Knight of Sky Silver
by RedButterfly33
Summary: "Hope is like the sun. If you only believe in it when you can see it, you'll never make it through the night." When the prince of Corona celebrates his seventeenth birthday, the party goes sideways thanks to his cousin, Luna Butterfly. Now they have to traverse a war-torn Mewni, while avoiding dangerous people who are after the power of the Sundrop. [Next-Gen Disney crossover]
1. Mirror, Mirror

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The pudding exploded.

Mei didn't even flinch. She'd seen this coming, the same way one sees two trains speeding towards each other on the same track. Hot guilt mixed with regret, as it always did when she had no choice but to escalate and let things happen. And after so much practice… she'd become very good at being rude.

Frosting rained down on the surprised faces around the table, which shook as Luna sprang to her feet. "You literal piece of garbage!" she snapped, glaring daggers at Mei. The yellow crescent moon marks on her cheeks glowed with anger. "My cousin swore by you, he said you could act like a human being for at least one afternoon, but you're the same stuck up bitch you've always been! It boggles my mind how you got him to invite you here! I don't care what I promised him; I can't stand you one second longer!"

With that, she turned on her heel and left. Mei watched her go, eyes cold. _Oh Percy… I'm sorry._ But she'd warned him. She'd told him that this wouldn't work.

The others exchanged awkward glances around the table. She ignored them, staring out the window. A conversation slowly picked up, but Mei wasn't listening.

A lake, Percy had promised. A lake where swans swam all day, and they could go there and feed them. He'd even said she could take a feather for her collection. Mei had never seen a swan in real life, but she'd heard how beautiful those birds were. Could they really still go? Even after this?

Purple tint crept along the edges of her vision. Recognizing the tell-tale signs of her premonitions, Mei let the familiar sensation wash over her.

She found herself in a dark room. Rows of podiums and plinths hugged each wall. Various objects stood atop them — some looked like innocuous everyday objects, while others swirled in mid-air, bathed in magical energies. Strange paintings and tapestries covered patches of dark brick, occasionally obscured by the odd bookcase. There were no windows or doors, only a single exit that led up into a twisted stairwell.

In between the artefacts, Luna crept in semi-darkness, examining each one. "What are we looking for again?" The only source of light came from a crescent moon-shaped wand in her hand, which glowed just enough to let Mei see her, leaving everything else in shadow.

"It'll be… small," a male voice replied from the gloom.

Mei's attention suddenly snapped into sharp attention, and she squinted, trying to make out the other shapes in the darkness.

Three more figures emerged between the rows. One of them, thin and lanky with hair so light it was almost grey, stood next to a bookcase, running its finger down the spine of a green tome. Another, black-haired and shorter, was bent over a blue bowl atop one of the plinths.

"Will, you don't want to be touching those books," the same voice warned. Mei concentrated on it, following it like a thread, and soon enough the sunny blond head of Prince Perceval Fitzherbert finally appeared a bit further down the path. "Most of the stuff in here's dangerous. Zeph, put down that bowl, man."

"Percy, we need to hurry it up," Luna said, her voice urgent. "If my sister finds out I took the wand I'm _dead meat!_"

"We're almost done, just gimme a second." Percy continued his search up ahead, peering into glass cases and down empty vases. "I'm sure it's in here somewhere."

A loud click echoed in the dark room. The boys turned as one, only to find Luna backing away from a big, ornate mirror. The glass rippled like water, shining with magic.

"Whoa." Will approached, fingers extending towards the glowing surface.

Percy jogged over, just in time to catch his friend's wrist. "I told you five seconds ago not to touch stuff! We're not supposed to be here!"

"Guys..." Light reflected off of Luna's green eyes, giving them a creepy, ghostly shine. "Look." She pointed to the top of the mirror, at a strange symbol that looked like a winged eye.

Will instantly withdrew his hand. "Not good. That's not good."

Energy burst out of the mirror, nearly knocking them to the floor. Magic, untamed and powerful, became a suctioning force that pulled everything towards the rippling surface. Will managed to grab onto a bookcase, drawing Percy with him, while Zephyr slowly made his way to Luna, barely dodging a gold-wrought box that flew past his ear and sank into the mirror.

"IT'S TRYING TO SUCK US IN!" Percy clung to the bookcase as the wind violently whipped his hair. "LUNA!" he yelled, "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"I JUST TOUCHED IT!" she shouted back, crouching next to one of the plinths. Zephyr had one arm around her protectively, shielding her as best he could from the gale.

The premonition was starting to fade. Mei tried desperately to hold onto it, but the control she had over her magic was almost non-existent — the vision took her where it wanted, and she was just along for the ride. Percy shouted something that she couldn't quite make out. Luna and Zephyr slid against the floor. Will's fingers slipped away from the smooth wood of the bookcase.

Then they were all sucked into the mirror, and everything went still.

Mei was rocketed back into her own body, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the sunshine streaming through the window. The formal lunch was still in full swing, and no one had noticed that their prince wasn't sitting at the royal table.

The chair clattered to the floor as she shot to her feet. "PERCY!"

Four faces turned to stare at her in bewilderment.


	2. The Edge of Seventeen

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**Chapter 2: The Edge of Seventeen**

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-O-

_Earlier that day…_

"Ow!"

The ball smacked Percy in the face with so much force it might have knocked a tooth out at the right angle.

"What was that for?" he whined, rubbing his cheek. Almost instantly, his magic rose to the occasion, soothing his pain and healing the bruise before it could even form.

"For making us stand out here in this heat," Will replied, crossing his arms. "Why are we being drafted into this welcoming committee against our will?"

Percy gave him a brilliant smile. "Because I'm charming?" Will's expression remained stony. "Fine, then it's because of your best friend contracts," Percy said, tossing the ball back. "You have to be here so I don't die of boredom."

Will caught it, snorting. "So we can die of boredom along with you?" He tossed it back, less aggressively this time.

"Exactly!"

Percy didn't know what Will was complaining about — it wasn't that hot for a mid-April morning, and they were playing right under the admittedly spotty (but still cool!) shade of a willow tree right at the edge of a little park just across from the water. Perfect vantage point to spot incoming ships.

Percy cast a look at Zephyr, who was sitting atop the low park wall with an ice pop in his hand. "Hey, Zeph! Sure you don't wanna join?"

Zephyr's yellow, lupine eyes followed the ball as his friends tossed it back and forth again. "Not now. It's nice in the shade."

"We're in the shade too," Will pointed out. He threw a distracted look towards the docks, which earned him a hit in the face from Percy.

"Oops." Percy grinned unrepentantly under his friend's glare.

Will muttered something, but threw the ball without excessive use of force. "So who are we waiting on anyway? How many people did you invite?"

"Well, I invited you guys," Percy said, mentally listing the guests he actually cared about. "Matt and Juliet came up to the castle yesterday. Luna and Clara are around here somewhere." He gestured vaguely to the little booths and other tourist traps along the shoreline. "And I invited two other kids from school."

Will raised an eyebrow. "Which two? Do we know them?"

"Sort of… " Percy tried not to look away. Looking away would betray that he was hiding something, and there was nothing William Charming was better at than dragging your dirty laundry out into the open.

"You're hiding something," Zephyr said from the wall.

Percy dropped the ball. "Who says? I'm not hiding something, you're hiding something!"

Will opened his mouth, but before the pointy questions could come for his hide, a strong breeze ruffled Percy's blond hair. He looked up, face breaking into a big grin. "Catch!" He picked the ball up and threw it back to Will, then ran across the park to the spot where his family was having their picnic.

Obscuring an enormous swath of sky, an airship slowly descended over their heads, the wind whipping three tops and the skirts of his twin sisters.

"Percy, step back," his mom said, gently pulling him towards her. "The ship will crush you."

He obeyed, watching the landing as Dad stood on his left with a matching grin. On the right, Dawn's hair, despite being in a high ponytail, kept whipping Briar in the face. Percy snickered, earning a glare from his sister as she spat out a few more golden hairs.

But more importantly, Percy could see the people leaning over the rails of the ship as its hull touched the ground. Dad held up his hand in greeting.

When the gangplank fell open, the first person to take a hesitant step towards the ground was a pretty, shy-looking girl of eighteen. Her hair was a tawny blond, adorned with a yellow headband, her eyes — the gentle green of flower stems in spring. She smiled in a sort of soft, timid way and gave the royal family a little waive.

Dawn and Briar stepped forward, but Percy broke into a run and beat them to the punch, running up to the girl and catching her halfway up the gangplank in a bone-crushing hug. "Colette, you made it!"

At first a little blindsided, the girl laughed and hugged him back. "Well of course! I wouldn't miss your seventeenth birthday."

Percy allowed himself a few more cuddle seconds before he let go, giving way for his sisters to embrace her. Instead, his hug-radar pinged as a tall, blond man came behind her, arm in arm with a kind-faced woman in a green dress and a toddler holding her free hand.

"Uncle Larry! Aunt Daphne!" Percy gave them both hugs, then ruffled little Aramis's hair affectionately. Behind him, Colette was hugging his parents.

"King Lawrence," Dad said, approaching. He bowed theatrically, winking at the visiting couple before straightening up and puffing his chest in his 'stuffy noble' impression. "So glad you could tear yourself away from important state business, old boy. No doubt you had a mountain of paperwork to deal with, what with all the man-eating plants stalking your kingdom." He adjusted an invisible monocle. "Yes indeed."

Uncle Larry rose to the challenge. "King Curran. I see you have resolved that killer washing machine infestation you were telling me about. But the place is a dump, when exactly are the cleaning efforts supposed to take place?" Aunt Daphne rolled her eyes, smiling.

Dad's flashed mischievously. "That depends. How soon can you get a hold of a broom?"

It was at that point that Mom elbowed him sharply in the side. "Stop antagonising our guests," she said with a playful glare as he nearly doubled over. Then she turned to Uncle Larry, and her eyes softened. "How are you, Larry," she said, enveloping him in a gentle hug.

"It's good to see you, Rose," Uncle Larry replied in kind.

"DIEEEEEE!"

Tiny feet thumped against the hull as the little torpedo that shot from the cockpit assaulted Percy with a battle cry and almost toppled him to the ground.

"DIE, DRAGON!" the torpedo said, poking him with a wooden sword.

Percy made a show of stomping around, making dragon noises. "Raawr! You'll never defeat me, Sir Stormblade!" He swiped at the kid and pretended to breathe out fire.

"Michael!" Much heavier footsteps followed, and the looming figure of Uncle Moe appeared behind the newcomers. He pressed a button on a car remote, and a sharp _ping-ping_ echoed from the ship. "There, all secure. Michael, wait until we've at least gotten to the ground before you attack!" he said to his son, voice full of exasperation.

"Neverrrrr!" Michael yelled in-between sword swings, which prompted laughter from the adults.

More greetings and hugs were exchanged, but Percy's attention was preoccupied by eight-year-old Michael North and his pointy, stabby sword. Eventually they made it to solid ground, and the kid somehow managed to get up on his back, yelling about justice and slaying.

"Michael, come on," Uncle Moe barked. "We're going to the castle. Leave Percy alone."

"I have defeated the dragon, so the dragon will give me a dragon-back ride!" Michael said haughtily.

"Michael, Percy has to welcome his guests," Mom said, her voice gentle and coaxing. "Come on, you can play more later."

Michael clung to Percy even harder. "No! I beat him, he has to do what I say!"

Percy made a long, agonising rawr and slowly deflated to the ground, where he lay with his eyes closed. "Dragon is dead now. I have been defeated."

"Peeeeercy!" Michael pushed him a few times, even tried stabbing with his sword, but his playmate remained motionless. "Get up! You're the dragon!"

Someone stomped towards them. "RAWR! I am the Great Old Dragon! The biggest and meanest and with the baddest breath in all the world! What's this? Someone has slain my son? Prepare, whoever you are, for by fiery revenge!"

Percy shook with silent laughter as Michael lept from him and attacked his dad instead. He waited a few seconds, just to be sure, then cracked open one eye.

His mother was kneeling next to his 'corpse', smiling softly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm in one piece, if that's what you're asking," Percy said, sitting up. He could see the group making their way to the car park, Michael perched on Dad's shoulders and waving the sword. With a wince, Percy lifted his shirt to reveal an already fading bruise. "I'm only mostly dead," he said to his mother, giving her a reassuring grin.

Mom ran a hand through his blond tresses. "I should talk to Moe about maybe giving Michael a rubber sword." The concern in her eyes softened somewhat, and she smiled. "We'll be at the castle. Don't forget that we have a lunch at one, and the ball starts at eight. Make sure your friends are all settled before then."

"Yes, Mom."

She leaned in and kissed his forehead. "And try not to get yourself killed before you can celebrate that you've made it to seventeen."

Percy grinned. "Yes, Mom."

When he made his way back to Will and Zephyr, Percy found them staring at the road after the distancing cars.

"Sorry about that, guys, but you know how it—"

"You didn't mention _her_," Will interrupted, eyes glued to the back of the cars.

Percy blinked at him, confused. "Her who?"

"He means Colette Desrosiers," Zephyr supplied.

Percy laughed. "I didn't _need _to mention her; she's been at every single birthday of mine since I can remember—and probably even before then!"

But Will wasn't listening; he was patting down his clothes on the edge of panic. "Why didn't I pack better? She's seen me like ten times in my usual official stuff. I should've thrown in that blue suit Mom was so insistent on!"

"Why didn't you?" Zephyr asked.

"Because I didn't know I'd care what I looked like!" Will snapped, getting flustered, which sent his friends into peals of laughter.

"Speaking of family…" Percy caught sight of two blonde girls over Will's shoulder — one with short, messy hair, the other with long, elegant tresses — and waved them over.

The short-haired girl on the right was his cousin, Luna Butterfly. At least six bags swung from her arms, despite the fact that she was barely fifteen, 5'2 and skinny as a rake. That, however, was nothing compared to her best friend, Clara von Leichenberg, who carried about two dozen in the crook of one elbow, leaving the other hand free to hold her plasma fruit, in which she'd stuck a swirly pink straw.

"Vhat is zhis?" Clara said teasingly as the two left their bags next to the park fence. "Do my ears deceive me, or is Villiam in love?" She threw Will a shrewd look behind her round, pink glasses and took another sip of her… drink. "Should you need advice, you know vhere to find me. I'm alvays eager to help, dahlink; I have had decades of experience."

Will hunched in embarrassment, growing ever-redder. Luna laughed and slapped him on the back, almost knocking the wind out of him. "Could have picked a more obtainable target, though. You do know that King Lawrence had to form a task force specifically to chase off love-struck boys?" The yellow crescent moon marks on her cheeks stretched as she laughed.

Percy laughed too. "Dad suggested that! I think he might have been kidding, but Uncle Larry ran with it, and it's the best part about visiting France nowadays. You haven't lived until you've seen five guys run across the gardens of Versailles, dodging dudes in armour and belting awful love songs."

He mimed jumping over obstacles and sang a verse of _Kiss From a Rose_. That got a laugh from the whole group, and by the time he could draw breath again, Percy noticed a ship on the horizon. A yellow-and-green flag fluttered in the breeze atop its mast.

"Guys, I think that's Ajay!" He set off towards the docks, followed by his friends. "Where are Matt and Juliet?"

"I got a text from her saying they had to make a detour," Luna said, checking her phone as they walked. "Something about a part needing replacement. Said they'll be here in time for that girl you want us to chaperone."

"Not chaperone, show around," Percy clarified. "She's never been to Corona, and besides that, Juliet's a native. She can show you and Clara some cool stuff, too. See, I think of you." He patted her head.

"You could have said the guy _we're _showing around was Ajay," Will said from his other side. "I could have read up on some gaming news or something."

Percy waved dismissively. "You'll be fiiiine. Besides, Matt will be with you, and he can bring an oyster out of its shell. I keep telling you guys, I've thought of everything."

"Forgive us if ve take your plans vit a grain of salt," Clara scoffed, smirking. "You have been known to overlook zer finer details."

They stopped at the edge of the water, and the girls once again left their bags on the ground.

"So," Will said as they watched the approaching Maldonian ship. "What are you gonna do while we hang out with Ajay?"

Percy sagged a little. "I have to greet a bunch of foreign nobles. I'll be there at the big lunch thing, then I can hang out with you guys for a bit, but we all have to be at the ball in the evening."

"Oooh, the First Dance." Luna grinned, teasing. "Anyone in particular on your mind this year? I hear Juliet will be wearing a very cute dress."

Percy laughed. "Is that because you helped her pick it?"

His cousin batted her eyelashes innocently. "Me? Intrude on someone's fashion choices? Whatever do you mean?"

Will rolled his eyes, but Clara giggled as the ship finally made it to dock. With a great deal of pomp, a tall seneschal announced the arrival of Prince Ajay Maldaquesh, the royal heir to the Kingdom of Maldonia. A skinny black kid in jeans and a blue jacket walked by him, eyes glued to the handheld game he was playing. His dark hair was all done in dreads, and the ever-present yellow-tinted glasses slid a little down his nose as he descended.

Percy grinned, holding up his fist. "Yo, Ajay. Managed to complete the Pokedex on that old game yet?"

For a moment, the other teen didn't react. Then the game pinged, indicating a win, and he finally met Percy's gaze, face breaking into a smile. "You know it." They fist bumped, miming explosions as their hands parted. "Just got the last one three days ago. Actually, if you're up to trading, I miiiight be persuaded to part with a certain shiny someone."

Percy's jaw dropped. "No. Aipom?" His friend nodded, smirking. "A _shiny _Aipom?" Percy added hopefully, his blue eyes big as saucers.

Ajay nodded again, laughing as Percy pumped a fist in the air and whooped.

"Yes, yes, you can have your nerd talk later," Clara said, her smile teasing. "Pleasure to meet you, dahlink. Clara von Leichenberg."

"The pleasure is all mine," Ajay said, startled into formality. He bowed, making Clara giggle. "I've not yet met a vampire in person, but I hear—"

"Oh, here ve go again," Clara rolled her eyes, arms crossing at her chest. "You people hear even zer hint of an Überwald accent, and all of a sudden everyvun is a vampire! Brink out zer torches and garlic!"

"I-I didn't mean to presume to—" Ajay stuttered.

"I _am_ a vampire, as it happens," Clara continued, "but I vill thank you for not assumink based on my accent alone! I vill have you know zhat such stereotypes are extremely harmful to the people of Überwald zhat are not sunlight impaired. Zer country is home to more zhan one species, and I expect zhat zer next time you meet a citizen you vill ask before making zuch accusations!"

Ajay took an unwitting step back under Clara's fierce glare. "O-of course!"

"Good!" The vampire gave him a fangy smile. "Zhen ve have no quarrel, you and I. Velcome to Corona!"

"Oh don't mind her." Luna swung an arm around the newcomer's shoulders with a big grin on her face. "Her bark is worse than her bite. Besides, we're all friends here!"

"Don't worry, you won't be stuck with SJW Vamp and Princess ADHD over here," said Will as he and Zephyr drew closer. Luna pouted at that and stuck out her tongue. "You'll be with us while Percy makes his rounds."

Ajay nodded, visibly relieved. His eyes darted around for a change of subject, and he nodded towards the girls' bags. "What's up with the shopping spree?"

"Oh, we killed some time down by the market!" Luna chirped. "There were sooo many cool things; I bought something for Dad, for Mom, for Mariposa, Katrina, Ruberiot, Grandma Star—" She started counting on her fingers. "Richie, Jay, Zade—"

Will peeked into one of Clara's. "Why'd you buy so many things for? We're supposed to be glorified tour guides today; are you going to lug these around?"

"Don't be silly, dahlink," Clara said with a laugh. "We've already called at the castle, somevun should be here to pick zhem up shortly."

"Duh," Luna added. "We aren't idiots. Although ..." Her face lit up. "I can enchant them to fly themselves to the castle?"

"NO!" the whole group exclaimed at once.

"Oh come on!" Luna pouted. "Things don't _always _explode..."

"Except when they do!" Will contered.

Zephyr nodded. "We were there last year. You blew up the cake."

"That was _one _time," Luna said hotly, "and it was an accident!"

Will raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? Like the basketball?"

Luna's eyes widened with shock. "How did you know about that?"

"How did you expect it not to spread?" A notebook suddenly found itself open in Will's hands, one of his near-dulled pencils hovering over an empty page.

Clara frowned at it. "Vhat are you doink?"

"Ugh, it's the stupid school newspaper thing he runs." Luna rolled her eyes. "The ball was… it was a separate case!" she said to Will. "She kept running her mouth about Zade!"

Will started jotting down in his own illegible shorthand. "Are you saying that you blew it up on purpose in Shan Meifeng's face?"

"I—No!"

"So you can't control your magic, then?"

"I _can _control it!"

"Well did you mean to burn half her face off or didn't you? Can't have it both ways."

Luna's fists shook. Percy heard a rustling sound somewhere around their knees, and one of the bags burst with a sharp_ bang!_. A motorcycle with two riders screeched to a halt beside the group just in time for the shower of socks that rained down on them.

"Wow," said the driver. His black hair, already ruffled from the wind, soon became the landing spot for a pink sock. "What happened here?" A second one floated down and draped over the shoulder of his green hoodie.

Zephyr caught another in mid-fall and examined it. "Do humans need that many socks?"

The girl on the back seat jumped off the bike and took off her helmet. "Depends on how many outfits they have, I guess?" she said with a laugh, running a hand through her brown tresses.

Percy threw a look at the waters. Matt and Juliet were a little late, but that was okay, because Mei's ship was only now approaching in the distance. "Um, guys…?"

"Will made Luna mad, and she made it rain socks," Zephyr explained to Matt, who huffed a laugh as he peeled one from the back of Juliet's plaid shirt.

"Oh no," she said sympathetically. "Did he do the newspaper thing again?"

"I'm right here, you know." Will snapped his notebook closed, a bit of white, frilly sock still hanging from the edge.

"Guys?"

Juliet bumped her hip against Will's. "You're always there when trouble happens," she teased.

"That's because I report on the trouble." Will put the notebook away inside his jacket, failing to hide a smile.

"You caused the trouble this time," Zephyr said, hands casually tucked in his pockets.

"I don't have the power to make things explode," Will countered, earning himself a glare from Luna.

"That was a low blow, Will, and you know it!" She marched over and poked Will in the chest. "I'd like to see you try to contain yourself when that arrogant, selfish, back-stabbing, heartless—" Percy carefully inched behind her. "— lying, manipulative barbarian barbie, who—"

" — who is invited to my birthday and her ship is gonna be here in ten minutes and you already agreed to show her around, glad you know her already," Percy said quickly, then bolted to a safe distance a few feet away.

The whole group stared at him.

"You invited… Meifeng?" Will said, stunned.

Ajay whistled. "Bold."

Even Juliet shifted uncomfortably, unable to meet his gaze. "Percy… what were you thinking?"

All of a sudden, Percy started to feel that heat Will was complaining about. "Er… well, I know what this looks like… but you guys, she's not that bad."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Not that bad?" Percy almost shrunk under her glare. "_Not that bad?_ Have you _met _her?

"Who is zhis girl?" said Clara, her eyes bouncing from one person to the next. "Somevun from zhat academy you all go to?"

Ajay snorted. "Debatable. She only shows up to class when she feels like it."

"Yes," Juliet said in her best placating voice, ignoring that little comment, while everyone still stared at Percy as if he'd grown an extra head. "She's a girl in our year, and she's a little… abrasive."

"Abrasive?" Luna repeated incredulously.

Will took out his notebook and flipped through a few pages. "Shan Meifeng. Princess of Ordos. Leader of a biker gang in her home country known as the Red Vipers. Ruthless, callous, cruel. Grandfather was a warmonger, and she's said to be very much like him. Wears a necklace of barbed wire. Tattoo of a red snake on her right forearm. Gets into a fight or some other trouble almost weekly." He closed the notebook. "Anything to add to that, Perce?"

"Yeah." Percy straightened up, not backing down. "She's my friend. And this is _my _birthday, and I invited her here, same as any of you. There's more to her than the combat boots and the wire necklace, and if you guys care about me, you'll be nice to her while she's here. You know, like you promised."

Luna instantly bristled. "She made fun of Zade's hijab and said it drew too much attention to her 'clown makeup'! You expect us to chaperone _her _around all day while you go and greet your nobles? No. Way."

"We didn't know what we were agreeing to, Percy," Juliet chimed in, much more gently. "I think I speak for all of us when I say Meifeng was the last person we expected to get an invite."

Percy's shoulders sagged. He knew that Mei would be a hard sell, but he had to try. "Please, Juliet? I know I kind of sprung it on you, but you're good with people. Show her around?"

Juliet shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know… she's kind of hard to handle."

"But she can be good, too," Percy said earnestly. "I know she has a bad rep, but she's honestly not that bad. All I'm asking for is to give her a chance. Just until lunch. For me?" He gave her his best puppy-dog eyes.

Juliet sighed. "Oh, alright. But only until lunch."

"YES!" Percy wrapped her in a tight hug, lifting her off the ground as she laughed. Then he let her down and turned to his cousin. "Luna..."

"I said no way!" She crossed her arms with a huff.

"Luna, come on…"

Clara took a sip from her plasma fruit. "I vill entertain your barbarian princess."

Percy blinked at her in surprise. "You… will?"

"Clara!" Luna whirled on her friend, who simply shrugged.

"I don't see vy not. Vhat is zer vorst zhat she can do? Hurt my feelinks? Plus, she vud make a great guest star on my YouTube channel. Does she mind beink filmed?"

Luna huffed again, even more incensed. Percy stapled his fingers in a praying gesture and turned up the innocence on his puppy-dog eyes. "Pleeeeeease, Luna?"

"Oh she's not even going to come!" Luna snapped. "You think a psychopath like her would want to be at your birthday?"

"She's already here."

Everyone turned to Zephyr, who was pointing to the sea. The little dot was now a big, armoured black ship.

"Yeesh," Matt said, watching as the sharp hull split the waves. "All that thing needs is ominous music. Are you sure about this barbarian chick?"

Percy turned to face his friends. "Guys, look. I know what people say about Mei. I know it's not an easy pill to swallow, but I'm asking you to trust me."

The group exchanged uneasy looks as the ship sailed into the harbor.

When the gangplank fell down, an angry-looking Asian girl surveyed the docks from its top as if they were made of decaying garbage. Long, black hair waved behind her like a flag, and her jeans were ripped, with chains hanging in loops at her thighs. Percy grinned and ran up to her for a hug, only for his face to meet with her open palm.

"What are you doing?" she asked, keeping him at arm's length.

"Giving you a welcome hug?" Percy said, cheek still smushed against her hand.

Mei gave him a flat, deadpan look. "Seriously?"

"Aw, come on! Aren't you happy to see me?"

"Ugh. Fine." She carefully lowered her arm. "But careful. Watch the necklace."

Percy happily obliged, gingerly enveloping her slender frame. Despite the eyerolls, he felt a warm hand at the small of his back. Before he let go, Percy squeezed her shoulder in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture, and then led her down to the docks. "Welcome to Corona!" The young prince spread his arms wide, taking a deep breath of that salty sea air. "I know you're used to colder climates, but you'll adapt to the sunshine. Come meet my friends!"

The group waiting for them didn't seem too enthused.

"You've seen Will and Zephyr around already, we're pretty much together all the time at school. And this is Ajay Maldaquesh, Prince of Maldonia."

Will and Zeph held up their hands in greeting. Ajay just said, "Sup."

"And, ah… you've met my cousin Luna…"

Luna and Mei instantly locked eyes in a hostile glare. Percy threw a pleading look at Juliet, who breathed in, plastered a smile and stuck out her hand.

"Hi! I'm Juliet Rodriguez, you might have seen me around the academy. It's nice to formally meet you." Mei stared at the offered hand until Juliet realised that it was covered in motor oil stains. "Oh sorry! I was helping Matt with his bike earlier, and I guess some of it hasn't come off yet." With an awkward laugh, she attempted to wipe it in her jeans.

Matt stepped in to save her, flashing Mei one of his dazzling smiles. "Juliet's a great mechanic. Saved my rust bucket from the very edge of collapse. Name's Matt, by the way. Matt Parker. You don't have to worry about whether or not you've forgotten me; I don't go to Andover Academy." He didn't offer a hand, but Mei nodded in acknowledgement.

Clara didn't waste time offering — she snatched Mei's hand and shook it. "Clara von Leichenberg. Not on zer academy roster either, but it is a pleasure to meet you, dahlink. Luna and I vill join Juliet in givink you a tour while Percy greets his courtiers. Can I get your consent on beink recorded for my YouTube channel?"

But Mei had stopped listening. Her entire posture stiffened, and she gave Percy a cold glare. "You did not mention this."

"Oh, the tour?" Percy tried for a placating smile. "It'll just be until lunch time, after that I'll totally—"

Mei roughly wrenched away from Clara and signalled for him to follow. "Walk."

Apprehension building, Percy trailed behind her until she stopped at the edge of the water, back turned to the group and arms crossed at her chest. Shit. Had he made her mad?

But when he circled around, he didn't find a pissed off curse or an angry glare. He found an anxious girl, her brow creased with worry.

"Percy," she whispered urgently, "this is a bad idea. A very, very bad idea. You should have never invited me here."

His nervousness shifted to concern. "What are you talking about?"

Mei's hand shot out, forming a fist in the front of his shirt and jerking him up. Over her shoulder, he saw the worried faces of his friends. Zephyr was already halfway toward them.

Percy shook his head. Zephyr stopped, but didn't turn back.

Though the hold may have appeared forceful, it was light, only maintaining the appearance of hostility. When Mei spoke, she did so in a whisper. "Whatever you did to get Grandfather to let me come was really stupid."

"I just mentioned it to my dad. That's all, I swear, and he made some calls." Something was off. Was it him, or did she seem… scared. "Is everything okay at home?"

Mei's fingers tightened ever so slightly in his shirt. Her eyes softened. "Percy… It's not _my _home you should be worrying about. Don't you realise what you've done? You think he let me come here to have a good time? My grandfather sees this as an opportunity to show strength. He wants me to infiltrate your home, intimidate you and your sisters and make sure you're so scared of me Corona would do whatever Ordos asks. I can't back down in front of Luna, and I can't be nice to your friends. What did you think would happen? That we'd bond and I'd fit right in?" There was a pause. Then she yelled at the top of her lungs, "WHAT? AND YOU THINK THAT PATHETIC EXCUSE IS ENOUGH?"

Percy flinched. Gleeful jeers erupted from her ship.

"Do you hear them?" Mei whispered again. "They're not here for you. They're here for _me_. I can't show weakness, because if I do my grandfather will exploit it. If he even _suspects _you're anything more than an annoyance to me, he'll hurt you if that's what it takes to keep me in line. You don't know what he's capable of."

"Mei…" Percy grasped her wrist, which still clutched the front of his shirt, and squeezed gently. "Friendship isn't a weakness, and I'm not easy to hurt. Those guards can't follow you everywhere; get through today, and tomorrow we'll go and feed the swans. Just like I promised."

Her eyes searched his, desperate like a cornered doe. "What if I end up having to betray you? Aren't you worried?"

"You'll do the right thing. I trust you."

Mei's expression softened. "You're an idiot. But, for what it's worth… I won't. Okay? I promise."

"Okay."

* * *

-O-

Percy cursed, hurrying down the hall as he tried to adjust the white-and-gold sash over his suit jacket. His mother would _kill _him if he showed up with a crooked sash. It was all Dutchess Bounderby's fault; the girl clung to him like a limpet until he resorted to literally jumping out a window. Well, hiding on the parapet and clinging to the wall, but she _thought _he'd jumped, which was all he needed. And now he was late, and the stupid sash wouldn't… just… twist…

"Oof!" Percy wobbled, having collided with someone he was too busy to see, but a pair of strong hands steadied him.

"Whoa there," Dad said. A teasing smirk appeared on his face as he took in Percy's dishevelled appearance. "Running late, can't get your clothes right — what have _you _been up to, hm?"

The young prince laughed, straightening his jacket. "Escaping Dora Belle Bounderby's clutches, that's what. Had to use advanced manoeuvre twenty-seven to shake her."

Dad huffed a laugh. "The old 'jumped out a window' trick? Nice." He wrapped an arm around Percy's shoulders, and the two started down the hall. "Well, the lunch has started already, but don't worry, I have Briar and Dawn on cover-up duty. I wanted to catch you before the official bits started." Dad reached into an inside pocket of his own jacket and handed Percy a small yellow package, wrapped with a blue ribbon. "Happy birthday."

Impatient with excitement, Percy unwrapped the gift to find a brand new lockpicking kit. Inside the soft leather case awaited two rows of shiny lockpicks, some with very interesting ends. "Whoa." He pulled one out. "Look at that gonzo hook!"

"Just, ah, make sure your mom doesn't catch you. I think I lost permanent use of my left ear after the Rooftop Rumpus." Dad winced at the memory.

Percy chuckled, but tucked the lockpicking kit safely inside his jacket. "I'll be stealthy."

Dad grinned, ruffling his hair. "Atta boy."

When they made it to the Great Hall, it was already bustling with noise. Percy spotted his friends on a table of their own and had to suppress the urge to call out and wave. It didn't seem so bad from here — everyone looked like they were having a good time, though Mei was staring out the window and not participating. He'd have to correct that when they all hung out later.

But for now, the royal table was where he needed to be. He took a seat next to his dad, who exchanged knowing smiles with Dawn and Briar. Luckily, Mom didn't seem at all bothered at Percy's appearance or his lateness, and spared him a smile from her conversation with Aunt Daphne. His grandparents were there too, of course, and he had to try really hard to resist showing Grandpa Eugene the lockpicking kit right there and then. Though as the prince sat, Grandpa caught his eye and winked, and Percy got the sneaking suspicion that he might already know the contents of the little brown case. Grandma Rapunzel did not share his reservation about waving and almost took Grandpa Sig's head off in her enthusiasm. He scowled, which his wife apparently found hilarious, though she did pat his arm sympathetically.

Percy waved back, but didn't get off his seat just yet. There'd be a whole family reunion thing tonight, and he'd have to dodge questions about girls again and make something up to justify what he planned to do with his future once Grandpa Sig cornered him.

"So is the kitten okay?"

Startled, Percy turned to the left. "Uh, sorry?"

"Dawn said you were going to be late because you were saving a kitten from a tree," Colette explained, the slightly sarcastic tone making it obvious that she had not believed a word of that stupid excuse.

Percy laughed. "Dawn sucks at cover-ups. She's just like Dad — can't do a good poker face to save her life." He threw a quick look around and opened his jacket, showing Colette the edge of his present. "Dad told them to stall because he wanted to give me his present early. It's lockpicks; Mom will lose her mind if she knew." With a conspiratorial wink, he closed the jacket.

Colette chuckled. "That's true. We don't want a repeat of the rooftops."

"You thought it was funny. Admit it." Percy elbowed her gently.

Someone tapped his shoulder. "Aaah, Percy?" He turned to see Luna right behind him, her face baring a very fake smile. "Could I steal you for a moment?"

He gave her a sweeping look. She was wearing her teal coat, one arm bent over her stomach in a highly suspicious angle. Instead of questioning, though, he nodded and stood up, telling Colette to make up some excuse for him.

Luna dragged him out of the Great Hall and into an alcove just off the main corridor.

"Percy, you gotta help me!" she said, desperate.

"Whoa, slow down! What did you do?"

With guilt written all over her face, Luna pulled her hand out of the coat. "I… I stole the royal magic wand."

Percy leaned in to get a closer look. The handle was pink, with a ribbon of teal twisting around it from its bottom to the top, which was shaped like a crescent moon — the exact same as Luna's cheekmarks. "... Cool!" He raised a hand to poke it, but Luna slapped it away.

"No, not cool! Very not cool!" She turned her hand so it was facing downward and opened it. The wand dropped a few inches, then hovered in the air, just below her palm.

"How are you doing that?" Percy asked in awe.

Luna's voice grew squeaky with panic. "I don't know! Your stupid barbarian girl said something to set me off, so I went and took it, and then I thought about how I didn't want to give it back, and I might have muttered some of those thoughts aloud, and now I _literally _can't give it back!" Her free hand fidgeted up and down in nervous, jerky motions as she became more and more hysterical. "_If Mariposa finds out she'll murder me!_" She started hyperventilating.

Percy grasped her forearms. "Luna, hey, it's okay. Breathe." His mind raced with a million ideas and schemes, ranging from making a fake substitute wand to forging Luna a new identity in Trebor. But then a memory unearthed itself in his mind, something so crazy it might actually work. Assuming they didn't die. "Okay, I have a plan." Luna let out a whimper of despair. "It's a good one this time! There is a door on the fourth floor that can teleport us to my grandparents' castle in Oloria. Grandma Odette has a secret room under her solar full of magical doohickeys. I've never been inside, but the twins have — she took them when they started showing signs of magic. There's a spell eraser in there somewhere. We go in, find it, break whatever you did to bind the wand to you, get back in time for desert."

Luna gave him a teary look. "You really think it would work?"

"'Course!" Percy grinned. "I'm great at sneaking around. Mari won't even notice."

Expertly navigating the patrolling guards, scurrying servants and the odd noble visitor, Percy led Luna through the little hidden shortcuts he and his sisters had found in Corona Castle over the years. The portal door was tucked away in the royal chambers—accessible only to the royal family—which meant that it wasn't guarded. They slipped right through easily enough, and then the real challenge began.

Unlike the more lax security of Corona, the Oloria castle hallways were rigidly manned at all times. Weaving unnoticed through those corridors presented a much bigger challenge, but Percy had lots of practice.

When they reached the last corridor, Percy left Luna on lookout duty as he knelt in front of the door, taking out his dad's present. Grandpa Eugene would laugh so hard when he heard that the very first use of it was to break into his maternal grandmother's private solar, he'd crack a rib.

It took a few minutes to pick the lock, but the young prince soon uttered a 'yes' under his breath and waved his cousin over.

"Does Queen Odette know that you know about her secret magical repository?" Luna said as they snuck inside and closed the door behind them.

"Uhh… not particularly." Percy went over to the window and ran his fingers over the intricate woodwork on the pane. "There." He pressed an indent of a rose, and a part of the wall next to the big fireplace turned into a white door.

Luna reached for the knob, but her hand met resistance a few inches from it. Rolling up her sleeves, she took a step back and threw herself against the door. That resulted in an 'oof!' as her feet slid on the carpet and she face-planted on the floor.

Percy couldn't help a snicker when he pulled her up. "It's protected by a Blood Seal. Only my grandmother's bloodline can open it." He glanced at the door. "I guess now we find out if I'm adopted." He reached forward, turning the knob with ease.

"That only proves your Waltz blood; maybe your mom had an affair." Luna squinted at him with playful suspicion. "And you don't have your dad's sun powers…"

Percy laughed, giving her a nudge. "What are you talking about, he always said his greatest power was getting into trouble, and I've _clearly _inherited that one."

"Hah, point taken." Luna peered down the dark tunnel. "Neat. I don't suppose you know how to light it? Is it, like, voice activated?" She held up the wand and added dramatically, "Let there be light!"

The crescent moon ignited with a bright glow. The two cousins exchanged a glance.

"Maybe you should stop saying random stuff until you've figured out how that thing works," Percy said as they started down the steps. "If I get blood on my best jacket, Mom will resurrect my ghost just to kill me herself."

* * *

**A/N**

**Hey everyone! Just a quick note to say thank you for reading the story, and also to provide a family tree in case you are a little lost as to how Percy and Luna are related to each other. I know it's a lot to type out, so I'll have it in my bio where you can copy the whole thing and paste it into your search bar. Just remove the spaces.**

**Obviously the purple line between Star and Eclipsa is skipping a few generations, which is the time she was frozen in crystal, but it's an easy way to understand how the family functions (I'll touch on this more next chapter in-story). Faded names means the person is dead at the present time.**


	3. Through the Looking Glass

.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Through the Looking Glass**

* * *

Loathe as Will was to admit it, Percy had been right about Matt. The guy was charm on legs. He did have to roll his eyes at some of Matt's tall tales, but after a couple of his corrections, Ajay learned to take them with a grain of salt. Overall, the tour had been surprisingly fun, and he had to stop Zephyr from chasing a cat only twice.

Corona Castle gleamed in purple and gold as they made their way to the Great Hall, where the official lunch was being held. Big banners with the Corona sun hung from each end of the hallway, and Matt re-told the story of Percy's grandmother, Queen Rapunzel, and her kidnapping when she was a baby as they walked. Will listened with mild interest, wondering if he ought to make room for some sort of kingdom spotlight column in the paper. It could be called something like…. Royal Review, that's it. He could wrangle a bunch of people—not Matt—to write about places they've visited, sort of like a tourism thing. Yeah, that could work!

Will's mind was so busy with the prospect of the new column and how he could make it happen, he let the others lead him across the hall and to a table already half-populated by girls. It took him a second to realise those girls were the other half of Percy's welcoming committee.

"Look at that, you managed to keep them from killing each other," Will said, sitting down next to Juliet, who gave him a crooked smile.

"Oh, dahlink, Juliet is a fantastic guide!" Clara gushed as the others took their seats. "Ve vent to her mother's vorkshop; her grandfather is so funny!"

Juliet looked down, embarrassed. "He gets a little carried away. I'm so sorry he tried to flirt with you, Luna."

The princess of Mewni laughed. "Oh no, Varian's a sweetheart! Honestly, no one's ever tried to get me to blow things up on purpose before; it was kind of great."

"And it vas very intriguing to hear about alchemy and adventures from his youth as vell," Clara added. "Though, I did vonder vy your mother runs a small repair shop, vitch is, no offence dahlink, almost on the verge of collapse. I vud expect zer daughter of zer former royal engineer to be better funded."

Juliet stared down at her plate. "We were," she said quietly. "Before the fire."

Clara and Luna exchanged a surprised glance, but before either could ask, Matt stepped in to change the subject. "And you, Mei? Had fun on the tour?"

Mei gave him a long, calculating look. Then she shrugged. "It was informative."

Will found himself once again questioning Percy's decision to invite her. She'd literally attacked him out on the docks, and to be honest he'd been a little worried about the girls going off with her alone. They had Clara with them, yes, but there were ways to take a vampire out of commission—or at the very least to be quite nasty to them—if you wanted to.

Matt turned up the wattage on his smile. "Our tour went pretty well, too. What did you think, Ajay?"

Ajay, whose eyes were glued to his phone, muttered, "Yeah, it was cool."

Matt sighed. "He did pay attention to at least half of it, I swear."

"That's because the other half was you and Will snapping at each other," Zephyr said, reaching over Matt for the turkey legs.

Matt's smile faded a little. "We weren't… snapping, per say."

"Actually, that's exactly what we were doing," Will said, dishing himself an omelette. "And that's because you insisted on lying."

"Hey now, I didn't—"

Will put down the fork. "Didn't lie? So you can back up your outlandish claims?" If that was how he wanted to play, Will would engage him. Oh yes, he would. His trusty notebook was suddenly open in his hand, pencil poised above it, but before he could open his mouth, a soft hand squeezed his shoulder.

"Down boy," Juliet said. "We all know Matt tends to exaggerate the truth. No need to disembowel him with your words."

Clara laughed. "Zhat is very accurate. Somevun ought to get you on a diet of truth potions, Matthew."

Matt winked. "Who needs a truth potion when you have Will Charming and his pencil?"

Will tried to hide a smile, which turned into a laugh when Luna threw a handful of peanuts at him. "Look at how smug he is! Don't mind him too much, Matt. Will's got a real hard on for 'the truth'." Fork in hand, she pretended to take notes on her palm, pulling a face of utmost concentration. "April eleventh, one hour, fifteen minutes and forty-eight seconds after lunch time. Today I stood next to grass. Why don't I write about all the true things about grass. Grass is green. A frog is green. I'm a pedantic nitpicker that writes down what people say with demonic speed and accuracy."

Laughter erupted around the table. Zephyr, ever the loyal friend, threw some more peanuts right back at the giggling Luna. "Shut it, Atom Bomb."

More laughter ensued; peanuts rained from all sides, as did the jokes.

"Conatrist!"

"Animal!"

"Bloodsucker!"

"Greasemonkey!"

The only person who still kept a straight face was Mei. In some misguided attempt to get her to participate, Matt aimed his next fistful at her, along with the word, "Barbarian!"

She didn't even flinch as the peanuts hit her in the face and tangled in her black hair. Her steely gaze narrowed, fixing on Matt. The light atmosphere evaporated like smoke.

"Lighten up, dahlink." Clara elbowed her playfully. "Ve are only jokink."

"Right," Mei said, her eyes cold. "So you can say whatever bullshit pops into your heads and only get peanuts thrown at you, but I get half my face blown off."

People exchanged looks around the table, some confused and some awkward.

"You see," Luna said acidly, "the difference here is that we're not racists."

Mei rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, I do see. You're free to insult anyone you want so long as you use _specific _insults."

"I don't think I've insulted you once today, which to be frank is some sort of world record in self-control!"

"Ha. Self-control. That's funny, I didn't realise you knew the meaning of the word. Mommy get you a dictionary?"

"Now, now, everyone," Juliet tried to say, her hands up in a placating gesture. "It's all in good fun, okay?"

"Okay for _you_," Mei snapped. "If you want to call me a barbarian, don't expect me to not shove those words right back down your throat. I'm not as spineless as your jihadist friend with the clown makeup."

The pudding exploded.

Frosting rained down on the surprised faces around the table, which shook as Luna sprang to her feet. "You literal piece of garbage!" she snapped, glaring daggers at Mei. The yellow crescent moon marks on her cheeks glowed with anger. "My cousin swore by you, he said you could act like a human being for at least one afternoon, but you're the same stuck up bitch you've always been! It boggles my mind how you got him to invite you here! I don't care what I promised him; I can't stand you one second longer!"

With that, she turned on her heel and left as the others exchanged awkward glances around the table. Mei ignored them, staring out the window.

"Nice going, Parker." Will muttered out the corner of his mouth.

Matt sighed. "I think I need a smoke." He wiped some frosting from his cheek and stood up, heading towards the big french windows.

"So," Juliet said after a small, awkward pause. "Where did Matt take you on your tour?"

She threw a pleading look at Will, who got the hint and started re-telling their morning, with the occasional comment from Ajay and Zephyr. Mei kept ignoring them, but Clara and Juliet asked questions, and after a little while things cooled down.

About ten minutes later, a hand curled around Will's shoulder.

"Charming?"

He turned, only to find the young, twenty-something Queen Mariposa Butterfly, looking harried in her purple silks.

"Yes?" he said. "Can I help you?"

"I need to find your friend, Zephyr Wolf—"

"That would be him over there." Will pointed across the table; Zephyr raised a hand.

"Oh yes, of course," she said, still somewhat flustered. "If I could have a word with the two of you for a moment…."

Will and Zephyr exchanged a confused look but followed the queen to a secluded corner of the hall, half-hidden behind some curtains.

"Okay, you two," Mariposa said in an urgent, commanding whisper. "I need you to find something for me, _tout suite_. You," she pointed at Zephyr, "if you're half as good of a tracker as your father, you should have no problem locating it. And you," her finger moved to Will, "are notorious for finding out the truth. I want to know who took my wand and _why_."

Another look was exchanged.

"With all due respect, Your Majesty," Will started, "we're sort of in the middle of—"

"This is more important than some stupid luncheon," Mariposa snapped, hands on her hips. Will took an unwitting step back — she reminded him _way _too much of his mother. "The disappearance of the royal magic wand is not something that can wait! Whoever has it can casually turn the guests into frogs, so unless you're in the mood to croak for the rest of your lives, _hop to it_!" She shoved a beaded purple purse at Zephyr. "Report to me the instant you know. My father is _not _to find out about this. Am I clear?"

At this point Will was a little too scared to form words, but Zephyr simply nodded. When Mariposa hurried away, he opened the purse and took a deep breath. His eyes widened.

"You know who took it?" Will asked.

Zephyr's yellow pupils slid around the hall, lingered for a moment at the royal table, then moved to the big entrance doors. "Yeah. Drafted an accomplice, too. The scent will be fresher outside."

"You can tell all that in a room full of people?" Will had seen his friend's sense of smell in action before, but he had to admit that was impressive. Right now all he smelled was frosting.

Zephyr nodded, leading Will outside and into a spacious corridor. "You know how my dad smokes like a chimney? It's not really a habit. He does it to dull the nose." He stopped for a moment and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. "They stood there." Zephyr pointed towards an alcove to the right. "About five minutes. Then they took that corridor and went through the servant's quarters. Come on."

* * *

-O-

Colette twisted the ends of her long hair nervously. She'd felt it only a few minutes ago, but there was something ominous about how Percy and Luna had vanished from her perception. Her first instinct for help was, of course, Dawn and Briar, but the twins were surrounded by a group of court girls that Colette didn't know, and just the thought of going over to that crowd gave her anxiety.

With no other alternatives, she gingerly approached the smoking boy by the window.

"Excuse me," Colette said, so quietly that no one heard. "Ex… excuse me!"

He turned. For a long moment neither said anything as the smoke of his cigarette curled upwards. "Um… hi."

Colette's heartbeat raced, almost painfully so, as it always did when meeting a stranger. She forced herself to ignore it — this was an emergency. "Ah… I'm sorry to bother you, but you're one of Percy's friends, right?"

The boy flicked his cigarette out the window and faced her fully. "Yeah. Matt Parker, nice to meet ya. You looking for him?"

"Um… yes, you can say, except, you see, the thing is..." Her voice trailed off. Colette swallowed hard. "A-hem. What I mean is that I can't find him."

"Okay… I'm sure that if we ask around—"

"You don't understand!" Her hand shot out, catching his arm. "I think he might be in serious trouble!"

Surprise flashed over his features. "Hey, he's in trouble every day," Matt said, voice soothing. His fingers curled over hers. "I'm sure we can find him. Let's get back to our table; Zephyr can sniff out anything."

Colette yanked her hand away and hid it in the pocket of her yellow skirt, but nodded, averting her eyes. He didn't believe her, and he didn't think it was urgent, but he was her best shot. When they reached the others, however, some sort of commotion was already going on.

"Hey, whoa!" Matt sprang around the table, trying to restrain a black-haired girl that was shaking down a boy with dreads, whose glasses had gone askew.

"When?" she demanded again.

"I dunno!" the boy replied, short of breath. "Ten minutes ago? Let _go _of me!"

Matt managed to separate them with the help of the other two girls, who came to his aid. "Heh, you must really hate guys, Mei," he quipped. "I leave you for literally five minutes and you've already massacred Will and Zephyr. I guess that makes me the only one you haven't assaulted yet. I gotta say, I'm honoured."

"I'm about to massacre your face if you don't remove your hands," the one named Mei said, voice cold.

"Juliet," Matt said, almost pleading, "maybe explain what's going on?"

"We don't know!" One of the girls — tanned and fit, busy helping the assaulted boy back into his chair — brushed some brown fringe away and gave Matt a concerned look. "She just suddenly stood up, said Percy was in trouble and demanded to know where he is! Ajay mentioned that he saw him at the royal table, and she just… flipped."

"Not zer most sweet of tempers," said the other girl, taking a sip of her plasma fruit. Colette's anxiety spiked. She'd never actually been this close to a vampire before. "And zhis is? Do ve have another surprise guest?"

The vampire stared at Colette behind pink-tinted glasses, which did nothing to calm her. _Think about Percy. He might need help_. "Um, hello. I, er, I'm Princess Colette Desrosiers. And I think your… friend is right. I'm, um, pretty sure Percy is in trouble."

The others exchanged a look, and Matt let the girl go.

"Should we…?" Juliet started with a glance towards the royal table.

Mei stepped right up to Colette, who backed away. "There's no time. Where is he?"

"Um…" Colette felt the anxiety creep up again. She forced it down as best she could. "I don't know. But I can lead you to the place I last sensed him."

"Then we're going. Now."

Mei grabbed Colette's hand and pulled her forward. The other four swiftly followed after them.

"So," Matt said as Colette hesitantly led the group up a flight of stairs. "You never said why you're so sure about the trouble."

Mei rolled her eyes. "Magic. Obviously." She threw Colette a look. "You said you can sense them. How does it work? Auras?"

Colette looked down. "Um, no, nothing quite so glamorous…"

"Your dad is the plant guy, right?" Ajay piped up. Colette cringed internally — her father wouldn't like such a moniker, but would probably take that over her grandfather's 'Beast King'. "So can you control the earth or something? Chuck boulders at people?"

"Um…" Colette twirled the ends of her hair nervously. "Not… exactly…." She opened the door on her right and gently herded the group inside to avoid the incoming patrol that was about to round the corner. The room in question was a gallery with many magnificent frescoes along the walls, but thankfully it was empty at the moment. "I don't really have control over the earth, I can just… sense where things are, sort of _through it_. As long as those things are touching the ground, I mean, and, well, that's… most things." Honestly, her power was useless in the extreme—unless you'd lost your keys—but the Fitzherbert siblings had always acted as though it was the most amazing ability to ever exist. Outside, the footsteps of the patrol retreated.

"That's why you're worried that you can't sense Percy," Juliet mused when they were out in the hallway again. "But wouldn't that just mean that he somehow got airborn?"

"And hasn't come down since?" Matt glanced at Mei's hard expression. "And what's your magical trouble detector?"

"That's none of your business," was the biting response.

"Zhat is harsh, dahlink," said Clara. "Colette answered vhen you asked."

Mei didn't spare her so much as a glance. "But she didn't have to. Could have just as easily ignored me."

Colette felt heat rise up to her cheeks, but couldn't find it in her to retort after being put on the spot like that. She led the rest of the way in silence, reaching out with her sense, but it just couldn't penetrate the last spot she'd felt Percy and Luna — the portal door. They found it unguarded, white-blue light swirling gently in the frame. It had been a few years since Dawn and Briar had led her through it, but Colette still remembered that feeling of being drenched with ice cold water as you pass through. She shivered on the other side, but Mei didn't even flinch.

"Brrr." Matt wrapped both arms around his shoulders in an effort to warm himself. "Could have warned us, Princess."

"I'm sorry..." Colette muttered, but Mei didn't leave her time for feeling bad.

"Well?" she demanded. "Can you still sense them?"

Colette closed her eyes, reaching out with her magic. "Yes! They're… underground somewhere. And I can sense Will and Zephyr… going down a staircase. Heading towards them, I think."

Something shifted in Mei, not necessarily about her face or voice, but a certain stiffness in her posture. Colette sensed it through the earth more than she saw it with her eyes.

"We're running out of time," Mei said. "Where is this staircase?"

* * *

-O-

With every step, Mei felt more and more on edge. Her stomach twisted in knots, head yelling at her to run, right goddamn now, but she couldn't show how truly rattled the premonition had made her. If the other two hadn't yet made it to the dark room with all the magical objects, then there was still time to stop them. And, the cooler side of her head added, had she gone into a sprint, she'd have ran right into the many guards patrolling the castle. In truth, Colette's little earth sonar was the only thing that got them this far.

But, just as Mei had the thought, the other princess froze in place.

"Something's wrong," Colette said. "They're… kneeling."

Mei's insides froze. "Run!" She grabbed Colette by the elbow and dragged her forward, throwing all caution to the wind. Thankfully the other girl kept up on her own and only tripped twice, but Mei's firm grip kept her from face-planting to the floor. They made a few left turns, then came to a skiddling halt before an ornate door, left slightly ajar. Colette flung it open, and the group poured inside. Another door, white as bone, led downstairs into pitch-black darkness. With little hesitation, Colette plunged into its depths. The rest of the group scrambled for their phones.

Matt cursed. "Mine is at two percent!"

"Seven," Juliet said glumly.

Clara headed straight for the tunnel. "Do not fret, dahlinks. I vill make sure she is not hurt."

Mei realised, without even having to pat down her pockets, that she'd left her phone on the ship. But she knew who hadn't. "Cough it up, four-eyes."

Ajay stared at her, alarmed. "What?"

"Your phone," Mei repeated, holding up her hand. "Give it."

Ajay's eyes darted back and forth behind the yellow lenses of his black-rimmed glasses. "Er… I think we should maybe stay here? I mean, if everyone else is down there already..." Mei grabbed him by the front of the shirt. "Right! Going down it is!" He dropped his phone in her hand.

Starting down the steps, their journey illuminated by a lonely phone torch, the group slowly descended into darkness, and the further down they went, the more a gut feeling of dread solidified in Mei. At the bottom, she found the same cavernous room from her vision, a little worse for wear. Some of the objects had fallen off their plinths, rolling in a mess at their feet.

"Whoa." Matt whistled behind her. "What happened here?"

"I don't understand!" Colette was saying, her hand on a tilted bookcase. "They were standing right here, and then…"

Mei shoved the phone at Juliet and went over to the mirror, running her hands over the sides. Luna had touched it, and there had been a click. Had she flipped a switch? Was it that wand? This thing clearly had some sort of magic in it, but how did it work?

"Er, Mei?" Matt called. "Care to share with the class?"

She bit down on the rude retort that leapt to mind. "It's this mirror. They're trapped in it somehow."

"That's definitely not it," Juliet said, shining some light over her shoulder. "Will has power over mirrors. If they were inside, he would have gotten them out in seconds."

"Zhen it is a portal," said Clara. "Like zer door."

Mei's stomach dropped. She hadn't considered that.

Someone tapped her shoulder. "Can I see?" Reluctantly, Mei stepped aside for Juliet, who examined the mirror closely. "It's a portal alright, and a very old one, too…" She reached for the frame.

"Stop!" Everyone turned to Ajay, who was pointing to the top of the mirror. "Don't touch anything! Do you have any idea what that is?"

Matt squinted up at the ornament. "Er…. a demonic eye?"

Next to Ajay, Clara gasped. "Zer symbol of Queen Eclipsa!"

The others exchanged a look. "Queen who?" Juliet echoed.

Ajay stared at her as if she'd spontaneously turned magenta. "Are you crazy? You've never heard of the Queen of Darkness?"

Juliet threw a helpless glance at Matt, who just shrugged.

"Eclipsa, Queen of Mewni, to a Mewman king vas ved," Clara recited, her eyes ever-fixed on the eye. "But took a monster for her love, and avay from Mewni fled."

"Mewni?" Juliet echoed. "But we're not _in _Mewni…. right?" She looked to Colette, suddenly unsure.

"No, we're in Oloria," Colette said, face full of apprehension. "I know this room, even though I've never been in it. This is Queen Odette's Magical Repository. And Queen Odette..." Her gaze slid up to the eye. "Was Eclipsa's daughter."

"Don't you know the story?" Ajay said incredulously.

Matt and Juliet exchanged another glance.

"We're Coronan," Matt said. "How are we supposed to keep the legends of every other kingdom straight — Corona has enough of its own to fill a library!"

Mei glared up at the eye. She knew the story, but it didn't change a thing in her mind. So what if some dark sorceress had made this thing? It had swallowed Percy and the others, and that was the only thing that mattered. There had to be a way to get them back…

"Okay, listen," Ajay said, "this lady was _bad news_. She ran away with this monster guy, and when she got caught, she was sealed within a crystal for hundreds of years, until King William, Percy's great-grandfather, released her. Then she married him and had Queen Odette, but somewhere along the line she decided that it wasn't enough and that she wanted more power. So she released her monster lover about fifty years ago or something, and went on a rampage to conquer Mewni— OW!"

Clara, having smacked him upside the head, glared fiercely at the Maldonian prince. "Is _zhat _what zhey teach you in school? Ha! Preposterous." She looked up at the eye, and her expression sombered. "I vas zhere, fifty years ago. Vhen the monster Globgor vas unleashed onto the vorld, and Queen Eclipsa had to give her life to seal him avay. I saw zer young Princess Odette weep for her mother, and vear black at the funeral." A small pause, and then she continued, "Eclipsa had zree daughters. Meteora vit Globgor, Festivia vit her Mewman husband Schastacan, and Odette vit her last love, King Villiam. It vas Meteora zhat almost caused zer end of zer vorld fifty years ago by releasing her father from his crystal prison. Eclipsa died to save us all."

More hushed voices, more pointless history lessons. Mei tuned them out, concentrating on the mirror. It was hard, drawing a vision from an object, but she'd done it once before. If she could just… see how Luna activated it…

Her temples pounded with effort, knuckles turning white from the tight grip. Finally, slow as treacle, purple flowered behind her eyelids, and a vision came to focus in her mind.

She found herself in a room very different from the underground repository — all bright colours and open windows. A woman stood before the mirror, nervously twisting a wedding ring around her finger. Her dress was old-fashioned, deep purple in colour, which matched the elbow-length gloves on her arms. Pacing up and down across the pink-and-fuchsia carpet, her silhouette passed back and forth by a breathtaking view of a rose garden in full bloom. Suddenly she stopped, turned and stared at her own reflection in the mirror. Her hand touched the cold surface.

"This all used to be so simple…" she whispered. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes, and she took a shaky breath. "All I wanted from the moment I was freed was to get back. And now that I can…" Her wistful gaze slid to the ring on her finger. With great pain, she closed her eyes and began to chant. The red spade marks on her cheeks glowed.

_"Mirror, mirror full of power,_

_Now at the eleventh hour_

_Take me to a point in time_

_From where I can undo my crime_

_To stop what I could not foresee,_

_Prevent a fate that's not su—"_

A sharp giggle interrupted the spell, and her eyes snapped open. Outside in the garden, just past the mirror, a little blonde girl had her grabby little paws on the cheeks of a brown-skinned boy in his late teens, squishing his face in a way she apparently found hilarious. Another teen of about the same age enabled the attack, holding up the toddler in her arms. Pink heart marks stood out against the fair skin of her cheeks as she grinned, and wind ruffled her golden hair, which fell all the way to her waist.

The tower door opened, though the woman didn't turn. A blond man with a short beard made his way across the room, encircling her in a hug from behind.

"Odette really has taken to Star and Marco, don't you think?" he said.

She smiled, and her hand reached up to rest against his cheek. "They are adorable together. I wish their visits could be longer."

"And they probably wish you'd come out more." He threw a glance towards the mirror. "I know you're getting close to whatever that project is, but you've been spending too much time cooped up in this tower lately. The kids came to see you, Eclipsa, and you're barely there."

She sighed, turning in his arms. Her hand remained on his face, thumb moving in a small caress. "I wish I could, Will, but this is important."

"I know," he said softly, his hand laying over hers. "But you're so busy gazing at this mirror, you're missing the life happening_ right here_."

Gently, he took her chin between his fingers and turned her head to the window once more. The toddler had changed arms, now nestled in the boy's firm embrace as the girl with the hearts on her cheeks made soap bubbles in the air. Tongue sticking out in concentration, she maneuvered them into bubble figures that stormed a bubble castle. The kid's mouth was agape with wonder, her blue eyes as big as saucers, catching the rainbow colours that reflected off the bubble army.

"I know you said that the mirror can be a way to unite monsters and Mewmans," he whispered in her ear, "but Star is already working on that. And she's made a lot of progress, if Marco's bragging is to be believed. You relinquished the crown to her when you married me; why don't you let her be the great unifier? I know this is important to you, but we have a family of our own now. There's a little girl in that garden that hasn't seen her mother in a week. Isn't that important too?"

In the garden, little Odette reached up to a few of the floating bubbles, popping them with her tiny baby hands. That simple act brought her so much joy she couldn't stop giggling, and the laughter infected the two teens as well.

"You're right," Eclipsa uttered, her own eyes shining with tears. "Oh gods, you're right. How silly of me." She surreptitiously wiped the corner of her eye and gave her husband a smile. "We should go down there, then. I want to know which bubble army wins."

He beamed at her, and the couple, already fading from Mei's vision, exited the tower hand in hand, leaving the mirror behind.

Mei opened her eyes, back in the underground repository of the now grown up toddler from her vision. Her mind raced, sifting through the parts relevant to the mirror, and then it hit her.

"Not supposed to be," she muttered.

The others, who were still discussing who knows what, went silent and stared at her.

"_We're not supposed to be here_," Mei repeated. "Percy finished the incantation!"

Too giddy with the revelation, she recited the full thing again from memory before it too could fade away. The surface of the mirror rippled.

"Wait, 'to a point in time'?" Ajay said. "You don't mean _actually—_"

Force erupted from the mirror, whipping Mei's hair back. She let go of the frame, allowing the swirling magic to swallow her whole.

* * *

-O-

Percy sat up, spitting leaves.

All four of them had made it in one piece, but they were no longer in his grandmother's repository. Instead, they found themselves in the middle of a clearing, surrounded on all sides by thick woods. A light breeze carried the strong scent of wood and dirt. Leaves whispered in the tall trees. He looked up to the sky, where the clouds were coloured in the yellows and oranges of a sunset. "Where… are we?" Around him, the others stirred as well.

"Oh no," Luna whimpered, getting to her feet. She tried to shake off the wand once more, but it stubbornly clung to her like a lost puppy. "Oh no, oh no, oh no." She started hopping from one foot to the other, muttering the same thing over and over.

The three boys stood shoulder to shoulder, looking at the sky.

"It's getting dark," Zephyr noted.

"Yeah," said Percy. "A mirror dimension, maybe?"

"Oh no, oh no, oh no—"

"No," Will said. "A portal. We just don't know to where. Far away for sure, if the sun is setting here."

"Oh no, oh no, oh no—"

Will grimaced, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Will someone push her off button?"

Zephyr walked over to Luna and put his hand atop her head. "Off."

She went quiet, but the hopping continued.

Percy let out a small chuckle, then turned to Will again. "So what do we do?"

"We walk." Will pointed above the treetops. "There's smoke that way; we might find someone with a phone. You got any cash on you?"

Percy patted his pockets. "Not really. I don't make it a habit to carry stuff in these monkey suits.

"Same." Will sighed.

Percy smiled, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "It's fine, man. Soon as we know where we are, we'll get in touch with whoever's family is closest, and we'll be back in Corona before the next sunrise. It'll be a cakewalk."

"Yeah..." Will's eyes were fixed on the column of smoke, which rose slowly towards the sky. "Unless we're walking straight into a slaughter."

"Are you kidding? With Miss Explosion over there, whoever tries to slaughter us will get blown to bits," Percy quipped. Will gave him a half-smile, but he could tell his friend was still worried. "Come on, what are the chances? Look at this, we're in the middle of nowhere. It's far more likely we'll run into one of those hipster weirdos that want to live 'authentically'. I bet you we'll just find some bearded guy with a man bun and a mango quinoa smoothie, munching on avocado toast." That one got a chuckle.

Will half-turned and said over his shoulder, "Come on, you two. We're wasting daylight."

It wasn't so bad, trekking through the forest. Percy's family had gone on picnics in the woods before, especially when they were visiting the Desrosiers in France; Uncle Larry loved showing off rare species of trees or flowers. Plus, it was a pretty nice walk, all things considered — the evening air was pleasantly crisp, and crickets chirped from somewhere in the woods. Percy cast a look at his friends. Zephyr seemed a little on edge, but he always was that way in an unfamiliar place. Will was leading the group with cool determination, and Luna clung to the wand as she walked, still miserable. Percy fell into step beside her.

"On the plus side, you get to have the wand for a while," he said. "That's what you always wanted, right?"

Luna looked down at her hand. "Not... not like this."

"Are you scared your dad will be mad?"

She nodded. "Dad... Mom... Mariposa... Anything I do, I always screw up. The Screw Up Princess, that's what they should call me."

Percy elbowed her lightly in the side. "Come on, it's not as bad as that."

"Isn't it?" Luna sighed. "I know Mari is the eldest and she's the queen, and she gets to have the wand. And I know I always said that isn't fair, but let's be honest here, Percy. I'm the worst mage to ever live. Will was right before — I can't control my magic. I can just make things explode. As much as I moan about it, part of me knows that the royal magic wand is best in my sister's hands. At least she can use it."

"Hey." He laid a hand on her shoulder. "That's not entirely true. You made light without exploding anything when we went down to the repository. And you bound the wand to you without blowing it to bits. Or blowing yourself to bits." She let out a shaky laugh. "Also, you made a splint for that warnicorn at Christmas, remember that? It didn't blow up either."

Luna wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Yeah, but I made it rain socks today."

"So? Could have been a lot worse." Percy made a face. "You could have made it rain broccoli."

A bit of Luna's spark returned to her eyes. "Well, you really shouldn't have said that. Now I know what to threaten you with next time you won't give up the last Sun Swirl."

Percy gasped dramatically with a hand on his chest. "Isn't biting me enough? I still have teeth marks from the last time we fought over one!"

"That's what you get for swiping what was mine when I wasn't looking!"

"That's what you get for not looking."

"Your dad can make them for you anytime; I can only get them when I visit!"

"Sun Swirls are my birthright!"

Zephyr suddenly stopped walking. "Quiet."

All four of them froze in place. For a moment everything was still. Then, with a sudden rustling of leaves, people erupted from the brush, surrounding the group.

"Meet my blade!" one of them shouted, swinging a machete at them.

Before Percy had time to think, Zephyr backed away with a guttural growl. Black fur sprouted all over his body. He hunched, growing taller as he did so, and in seconds his massive silhouette was as big as a bus. Sharp teeth, now as long as swords, poked from underneath his curled lip. Feral, yellow eyes darted between his friends and his enemies, and Percy knew that in his startled animal mind, it would be hard to tell the difference at first.

The giant black wolf took another step, and a heavy paw shook the ground. Its blood-curdling growl, growing stronger each second, reverberated in their very core.

"Aw crap," Percy muttered.


	4. The Wolf Among Us

.

* * *

**CHAPTER 4: The Wolf Among Us**

* * *

The black wolf towered above the humans at its feet. They took one look at those razor-sharp claws, that scary maw that could chew them in half in a single bite, and dropped their weapons.

Luna backed away, fear pounding in her heart. She'd known that Zephyr had some sort of wolf-like magic, but she hadn't thought... well, she never imagined... The wolf's shoulders hunched, as if ready to pounce, and Luna scrambled backwards so fast she fell over.

Percy and Will exchanged a look, and some sort of wordless understanding passed between them. They stood back to back, one facing the wolf, the other the mob.

"Hello there!" Will said to the terrified ambushers. "I'm sure neither of us wants any nasty accidents to happen, so if I can ask you not to make any sudden moves, that would be appreciated. My friend back there reacts badly to that, you see."

At the same time, Percy approached the wolf, hands raised in a placating gesture. "Hey, buddy. It's okay, it's just me. Percy. See, you know me." He reached towards the giant mouth which could end his life in seconds, and Luna was so terrified she couldn't even yell out a warning. The wolf's nostrils flared as it sniffed the air. "That's right. Nothing scary. Just a friend." Percy kept talking as if he were trying to comfort the beast. "Listen, this form is cool and all, but maybe revert back to human? You're scaring Luna."

The yellow eyes moved from Percy and fixed on her. Luna's breath hitched. Then the wolf looked back to him, whining quietly. Luna suddenly noticed that its legs were shaking.

"It's okay," Percy repeated, taking another step forward and burying his hand in the monster's dark fur. "Nothing bad will happen. We're here."

The wolf glanced towards Will, who was still talking to the mob. "If any of you knows any Love Sentence songs, now's the time to speak up, folks! He's particularly partial to Awesome Feeling and Too Little, Too Late."

Love Sentence? Without thinking too hard about it, Luna started to sing. "_Oh, girl, you know I'd never mean to hurt ya._" The wolf's ears perked up. "_When you're sad, you know I'd never desert ya. Ooh-ooooh, you were my angel, my beautiful dove_."

Percy smiled at her and joined the chorus. "_We spiralled high on a gust of love, and I knew right from the start. Nothing could tear us apart, til the day you broke my heart. And now it's... too little too late_."

The wolf's stance relaxed. Its head drooped. Then it literally deflated, until a black-haired teenager stood in its place, humming under his breath. Percy reached into the pockets of Zephyr's jacket, and his hand came out clutching a pair of earphones. The prince stuck them in his friend's ears and put on some sort of playlist on the iPod.

The mob let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Well, thank you for that, gentleman," Will said as Percy clapped Zephyr on the shoulder and led him a little to the side. "Now if you'll be so kind as to loan us a phone, we'll be out of your way and let you find a change of underwear."

One of the attackers, who had been wielding a sharpened pitchfork, stared at them in bewilderment. "A what?"

"A cell phone?" Will repeated, but that just resulted in more confused faces. "Don't tell me you don't have phones here. Little hand-held devices that let you talk over great distances?"

"We ain't heard of that kind of magic, mister," said another, who Luna just now noticed was wearing a colander on his head. "We're just patrolling the forest for monsters. Those damn blighters refuse to get out of our land!"

"Yeah!" the rest of the group cheered in agreement.

"Excuse me, your land?" Will said. "Which kingdom are we in, exactly?"

"Mister, this is free land. Nothin' but monsters crawlin' around. That's why we're claiming it."

Luna stood up, dusting her teal coat. "How can you claim it if monsters already live here?"

The crowd threw them another weird look, like they weren't sure the four of them were alright in the head.

"Well they're monsters, aren't they," said a plump woman in piecemeal leather armour. "So they don't get a say, do they."

"Uh, yes they do," Luna insisted, her fingers curling around the magic wand. "They're citizens, just like anyone else!"

The people in the mob looked at each other, then erupted in peals of laughter.

"Citizens," said the guy with the colander, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

"Next thing they'll want to give bears and bunny rabbits land," piecemeal lady cackled.

Will, Luna and Percy exchanged a look.

"Hah, but Queen Solaria will teach em'!" exclaimed the pitchfork guy. "She's vowed to take em all out, every single one! Won't be long before her army makes its way here."

A sneaking realisation crept up Luna's spine. "Did you just say Solaria? Queen Solaria Butterfly?"

"Heck yeah," colander man said with an air of smug satisfaction. "We're in her official fanclub!" He pointed to a polished pin on his chest, which was shaped like a lightning bolt. "That's why we're patrolling the woods, you see, it's part of club activities. I'm _thiiiis _close to becoming a Certified Solarian Supporter. That's the third tier of membership."

"Riiight." Will tried to keep his voice even, but it was all Luna could do to not start screaming. "We're close to Mewni, are we?"

Pitchfork guy scratched the back of his head with the tip of the weapon. "Pretty close, I reckon. Just a few months that way and you're there, though you'd have to traverse the Forest of Certain Death. It's crawling with them buggers."

"Er, right. So Corona would be that way?" Will pointed to the west. A few of the Solarian Fanclub nodded.

"Wait," Percy said. "Then where is Oloria?" That was met with more confused glances. Percy's face fell.

"Let me guess," Will said darkly. "Saporia is just north of Corona, and we're a stone's throw away from Dalriad."

Piecemeal lady made a face. "If you know where you're at, why bother us with stupid questions?"

Luna was utterly confused now. She wasn't the best at geography, but she'd never heard of either of those places. Before she could ask, a twig snapped loudly in the darkness behind them, and the Solarian Fanclub took off with a war cry.

"Wait!" Will shouted after them, but they were already swallowed up by the forest.

"Should we… follow?" Percy asked uncertainty, eyeing Zephyr, who was swaying a little, singing along under his breath.

Will rubbed his temple. "Forget it. Let's just keep moving."

Their little group continued the trek through the gathering darkness. It took an hour or so of walking before Will decided they were far enough away.

"This spot looks as good as any," he said as they came to the bank of a bubbling brook. "We should make camp. Anyone know how to make fire?"

Percy, who still looked a little glum, perked up a little and shot Luna a mischievous glance. "No... but we do know how to make sparks."

Though she wanted to, Luna couldn't find it in her to return it. "We're in a forest. Do you want to burn the whole place down?"

"It'll be fiiiine." Percy gripped her shoulders and manoeuvred her to a bush that grew closer to the water. "Just think small and aim that way. Totally contained."

Luna took a deep breath and pointed the wand at the lonely little shrub. _Okay_, she thought. _Small. Sparks. We just need a little for a nice, roaring fi—_

**_FWOOM!_**

Her eyes snapped open as a line of bushes right behind her burst into flames. The boys started yelling and ran around like headless chickens, trying to stomp out the flames before the whole forest went up in smoke.

Twenty minutes later, tired but thankfully not charred, the four of them sat around a nice little campfire, which was carefully fenced by big river stones.

"I told you I'm a screw up," Luna muttered into her knees.

Percy waved dismissively. "Nonsense. You got a fire going, didn't you? It was just, er, a little more than we needed."

Will leaned back on his hands, trying to catch his breath. "Yeah, we put out the excess. It's fine."

Luna knew that they were just trying to make her feel better, but it only kind of worked. On her right, Zephyr once again had the earphones on, curled up for a nap by the fire.

"So," Will said, looking up at the stars. "We're in the past."

Hot panic burned through Luna, and everything suddenly felt a lot worse. She wanted to cry.

Percy's face fell again. "Oloria doesn't exist."

"Nope," Will said. "But Dalriad still does. And Saporia. That means we're five hundred years back, at least."

"Seven," Percy corrected him glumly. "Seven hundred, if Solaria is still queen."

For a long while, no one spoke. The fire crackled between them.

"So what now?" Luna asked.

"Now..." Percy started. "We head to Mewni."

Will threw him an angry glare. "Are you out of your mind? That's a few month's trek on foot, _at least_, through war-torn medieval kingdoms whose geography is completely unrecognisable! We'll never make it!"

Percy simply shrugged. "It's that or start a new life as members of the Solarian Fanclub."

Luna felt revulsion and anger stir inside her gut despite the crushing sense of despair. "I am not living in the dark ages while that psychopath wages war!"

"Then we agree," Percy said cheerfully. "Tomorrow we start heading towards Mewni. I'm sure if we can get a hold of Solaria, or even Eclipsa, they can get us home."

Will huffed. "And you're certain they'll help us, are you?"

"Why wouldn't they? We're family."

Luna scowled. "I don't want to be related to Solaria the Monster Carver. She started a stupid, racism-fuelled war that lasted decades just to expand her land and perpetuate centuries of anti-monster propaganda!"

"We can't choose our family," Will said. "The mirror was Eclipsa's doing. Depending on how long the war has been going on, she might be an adult now, and she was a far more powerful mage than Solaria. I'd say she's our best bet."

Percy nodded. "Agreed. She may have been the Queen of Darkness, but I'm sure she'll help a couple of her future grandchildren!"

"Me too," Luna chimed in. "Grandma Star always says good things about her. Whatever her rep, she'll help."

Will's eyes darted between the two of them, but in the end he consented with a big, tired sigh. "Then it's decided. Tomorrow… we march to Mewni."

"Good!" Percy grinned. "We have a plan of action, and a nice campfire. All we're missing is snacks." He threw an expectant look at Will.

Will sighed again, with a smile on his face this time. "Yeah, yeah. I think I have some."

"Long as it isn't pizza," Percy quipped.

Luna watched in confusion—and then horror—as Will pulled a silver hand-held mirror from an inside pocket of his jacket and stuck his arm in all the way to the pit. It was insanely surreal to watch him rummage inside, while his arm literally looked like it had been cut off.

"I left a pizza in here once," Will explained while he searched. "Totally forgot about it afterwards. Two weeks later, the whole place stank like you wouldn't believe. Ah, there we go." With a small grunt, he pulled his arm out, along with a plastic bag full of chips. Looking through them, he tossed one at Percy.

"Funyuns! Sweet, I love those!"

"I know, idiot. That's why I have them. Smoked bacon for Zeph." Will threw another bag of chips, which hit the unsuspecting Zephyr on the head.

Zephyr jumped, yellow eyes wide in alarm. "Attack?" he asked nervously.

Percy laughed. "Nah, buddy. Snacks."

"Oh." Zephyr looked at the chips bag. "Not hungry right now. Maybe later." With that, he replaced the earphones and curled back into his nap position.

Percy's mouth was already full of funyuns, but Will still rustled with the bag. "Luna, I got a couple flavours left. Do you want paprika or sour cream?"

"Um... I'll take paprika," she said, though her eyes remained on Zephyr. It was hard now to connect him to that giant black beast, to imagine that horrifying growl coming from his throat or the fangs showing under his curled lip. He looked the same as he always had. "Ow!" The chips bag smacked her in the face.

Will huffed a laugh. "That's what happens when you don't pay attention." He stuffed the remainder back into the mirror. "That should hold us over for tonight, but we really need to find some actual food tomorrow."

"We will," Percy said. "But that sounds like an issue for Future Us. Tonight, we feast on funyuns!"

Will gave him a flat look but only shook his head. Luna opened the bag and nibbled on a chip.

"Has Zephyr..." she said after a minute. "Has he always been able to turn into a black wolf?"

The boys threw a look at their sleeping friend.

Will was the first to turn to Luna. "You mean you don't know?"

She shook her head. "I mean... I knew there was something about wolves in the family... but he's fine handling silverware and doesn't howl at the full moon. I thought he might be a shapeshifter or something, but shapeshifters don't get that big. Is he... a weird kind of werewolf?"

Will and Percy exchanged a look. "The exact opposite, actually," Will said. "A werewolf is a human that can turn into a wolf. Zephyr is a wolf that can turn into a human."

Luna just stared at them, speechless. "... What?"

Another look was exchanged. "You tell it." Will shifted around until he was laying on his back, fingers stapled behind his head. "You're good at stories."

Percy huffed a laugh. "Then it's storytime, I guess." He dusted his hands from any funyun remains and took up his storyteller pose, crossing his legs. "You still got that dairy creamer?"

Will stuck his hand in the mirror and tossed some sort of can at Percy. Luna settled down to listen, too; she loved Percy's stories.

"Once upon a time," he started, "the North Wind wandered the world and fell in love with a beautiful white wolf, who was the guardian of a far away forest. He shifted into the form of a wolf to woo her, and she bore him seven cubs."

Maybe it was her own imagination, but for a moment Luna could almost see the form of a wolf in the flickering fire, surrounded by her little flaming babies.

"But soon enough he got tired of her, and flew on to blow on greener pastures. The wolf was left to care for her cubs alone. As the kids grew, so did their mother wither, pining for a lover that was never to return. After her death, the cubs left to find their father, to hold him responsible for his actions, though none were a match for his elemental powers. Only the runt of the litter, the seventh cub, refused to leave his mother's corpse to scavengers and vultures. However, because of his small size, he wasn't able to protect her. Fuelled by his loss, he vowed that this would be the last time he was pushed around." Here Percy's voice dipped as if he'd smoked ten packs of cigarettes, and his lip curled into a snarl. "_On this I swear, that I will eat something bigger as each day passes, starting from small insects to humans, until I become so large and strong no one can stand in my way_." Percy threw a fistful of powder from the can into the flames, and they roared, reaching for the sky.

"Basically," Will cut in, "every story you've ever heard that has a wolf in it is about one of the seven."

Percy deepened his voice again. "_Let me in, let me in! Or I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow this house down!_" He puffed up his cheeks and blew into the fire. It barely made it flicker. Luna giggled, realising that she somehow felt a little better.

"Being a kid of the North Wind has its advantages," Will continued. "Like having the ability to hold your breath for three weeks with a stomach full of rocks after an unfortunate run-in with a woodsman until you eventually wash up on shore."

"No way!" Luna exclaimed. "That really happened?"

Percy nodded. "To one of Zeph's uncles. But to get back to our story..." He threw more powder in the fire, and it swelled dramatically. "The cub that remained became larger than any of his siblings. Though initially he was bullied by them, in his later years he became known by the terrified people as the Big Bad Wolf, later shortened by those who knew him to Bigby Wolf."

Luna gasped. "Sheriff Wolf! Zephyr's father!" Two embers smouldered in the fire pit, like two giant, angry eyes.

Percy nodded. "At first he hunted armies of men and monsters in his mother's forest, making it his personal mission to eviscerate corrupted invading forces. He made it his game to destroy their camps, devour their night watchmen and disrupt their supply trains while sparing their prisoners. One day he broke their ranks and discovered a particular woman they held captive. He approached her, and she, knowing no sword could match the giant wolf's power, bravely placed her shackles in the beast's mouth. Surprised, and a little confused by that action, he freed her."

"Awww," Luna cooed. "That's so sweet."

"As the years passed, the woman returned to find Bigby, asking for his help," Percy continued. "Along with her was Mayor Feathercap, who was only recently given reign over the City of Andover. He granted Bigby the ability to turn human, and convinced him to help with the mysterious killings that no one else was able to solve. After that whole adventure, Bigby was made Sheriff and started a new life living among humans. A job where his past actually came in handy." Putting on a grim, harrowed face, Percy lowered his head in a broody pose, taking a drag out of an invisible cigarette. "_You think my job is easy? You try keeping the peace around here. How do you think this all works? By being big and being bad_."

Luna had to resist the urge to clap. "That's such a good story! Why don't more people know about it?"

Percy shrugged. "Lots of people out there with good stories. I guess no one ever asked. A few years down the line, Bigby married that woman, and they had seven cubs of their own. Unlike human children who start off crawling and have to learn how to walk, the cubs could fly from the moment of their birth, and had to be taught how to ground themselves. Their parents raised them on a farm, far away from prying eyes, until they were old enough to take human form and blend in with society." All three threw a look at the sleeping Zephyr. "So yeah, Zeph's true form is an eight-foot-tall wolf. But trust me, he's literally more scared of you than you are of him."

"In short, Zephyr is a coward," Will finished. "When he was young, he and his siblings were attacked by their uncles. Imagine several of those beasts coming right at you. He's still not over it." Will sat up again. "Zeph transformed because he was scared and lost control of the human form, not because he wanted to attack. I'm actually pretty sure he almost bolted, and would have done it had those Solarian Fans not been scared shitless.

"He's a total softie," Percy added. "Despite how scary he looks. Plus, there's that prophecy..."

"Wait, what prophecy?" Luna's eyes bounced between them.

Will reached into the mirror and pulled out his trusty notebook. After flipping through a few pages, he read,

"_The first child will be a king_

_The second child a pauper_

_The third will do an evil thing_

_The fourth will die to stop her_

_The fifth will be a hero bold_

_The sixth will judge the rest_

_The seventh lives to ages old,_

_and is by heaven blessed._"

"We were there when it happened," Percy said quietly, all showmanship gone from his voice. "It was the year we started at the academy and became friends. I invited the guys to visit, and we all went to Oz to spend a few weeks at Uncle Moe's. That was when... Queen Ozma showed up. She took one look at Zeph and made that prophecy right there and then. She said... she said that the order on the prophecy doesn't reflect the birth order, so we still don't know which one will do what."

"Except for Winter," Will corrected. "Winter Wolf, the eldest sister, became the new North Wind after their grandfather died. So she's the 'king'."

"Wait a minute, how can a girl be a king?" Luna protested.

Percy shrugged. "Beats me."

Will sighed. "Because the word is gender-neutral in Fairy. Which Ozma happens to be. You can't expect immortals to think about stuff the same way humans do. That's what's got Zeph so worried." His voice turned from slightly irritated to concerned. "He fears he might be the one that does an evil thing."

"But what if he's the hero?" Luna said. "Or the one that's blessed?"

"We just don't know, Luna," Percy replied, throwing another look at Zephyr. "He could be any one of those."

Silence fell between them.

"Well that sucks." Luna tossed a pebble into the fire.

"Big time," Percy agreed.

Will stood, dusting off his pants. "Enough wallowing. We got warm, we ate, time to sleep now. Everyone into the mirror."

Luna stared at him, dumbstruck. "Uh, you want us to sleep in your secret food stash?"

Will raised an eyebrow at her. "You want to sleep in the woods? Which are full of prowling humans and monsters and who knows what?"

Percy stood too, throwing some dirt onto the fire to put it out. "Dawn told me once that bears love funyuns. I know she was probably pulling my leg but I'd rather not risk it." He knelt next to Zephyr and shook his shoulder. "Come on, man. We're sleeping in Will's mirror."

Zephyr made an affirmative sort of growl and got up, taking off the earbuds. He and Percy put out the rest of the fire, while Will polished the surface of his mirror.

"Uh… Is that safe?" Luna asked, eyeing it with distrust.

"Totally." Will smiled at her. "I have complete control over it. Made it as my first mirror dimension when I was thirteen. Dad will lose his mind if he knew I kept it."

Well that last sentence certainly didn't inspire confidence in Luna. "Why?"

Will just shrugged. "He has a thing about mirror prisons. That's what he calls them anyway; I personally haven't imprisoned anyone in mine, and I don't intend to."

"Oh, that's another good story," Percy said as thick smoke curled up from the fire pit when Zephyr stomped out the last remaining embers. "About your grandmother becoming the Snow Queen. Ruby told me all about it."

"What can that fairy know, she wasn't even there." Will held up the mirror. "Come on, everyone. I need to capture your reflections; just look this way."

Luna's green eyes met their duplicates for only a second, and then everything around her shifted. Suddenly she found herself... in the clouds. Endless grey skies stretched out for as far as the eye could see, and underneath her feet, soft and fluffy as cotton, clouds spread in every direction.

In a blink Percy was next to her, grinning. He spread his arms and fell back, bouncing on the soft white clouds and making a cloud angel. "I freaking love this mirror."

Zephyr wordlessly sat on Percy's right, fluffing up a nice bit of cloud before he too laid down.

"Make yourself at home." Will joined them too, stretching and yawning. "It's not as warm as next to a fire, but at least we won't get eaten in our sleep by funyun-loving bears."

"They are a most serious threat," Percy said solemnly. Will hit him with a handful of cloud.

"Where do you keep the snacks and other stuff?" Luna asked, making herself comfortable.

Will stuck his thumb out and pointed behind him. "Hill over there, with the tree."

Luna turned, noticing the small green hill for the first time. She couldn't see well from here, but what land there was, was covered by heaps of who knows what, strewn haphazardly on the little island. Something heavy fell on her shoulders, and she realised it was Zephyr's jacket.

"Gets cold when he falls asleep," Zephyr explained, returning to his spot. "You'll freeze. Jacket will help you more than me."

Luna drew the front closed, unsure of what to say. "Thank you."

Zephyr simply nodded, curling up into a ball again.

She laid on the cloud, which was actually very comfortable, and closed her eyes. Maybe this was all a nightmare, and in the morning she would be woken up by her mom, flustered that they'd forgotten this or that and were going to be late picking up Clara for the trip to Corona. Mariposa would yell at her for stealing that blue sweater, and Dad would try to play mediator, his coffee getting cold. Maybe, just maybe... she'd be home again.

* * *

-O-

The morning came with a whisper. Luna opened her eyes, feeling miserable. The grey sky inside the mirror dimension didn't really help with that.

"Hey," Percy greeted her, tossing a water bottle her way. "Morning. We were waiting for you to wake up so we can get going. No rush though."

Luna gulped down the water, swishing a bit of it and gurgling. "You wouldn't happen to have a comb here, would you?"

Will smirked. "You forget that I made this dimension." He reached into the clouds beneath and pulled out a shimmering silver comb. "I can't make food, and nothing exists on the outside, but in here I can get you pretty much anything."

Luna returned the smirk with one of her own. "How about a mirror?"

Will obliged, and Luna was happy that at the very least her hair didn't have to look like a bird's nest anymore. The light make up from the previous day was completely gone, which to be honest was probably for the best. When she deemed herself decent, the four of them left the mirror and once again began their trek through the woods.

"Break please," Luna wheezed about an hour later, clutching her side. The forest floor was deceptively uneven, and it must have rained during the night because _everything _was muddy! Okay, so she wasn't the most active of princesses, but it wasn't her fault — when you have your own warnicorn, you don't need to walk places.

The boys stopped and turned.

"You just had a break twenty minutes ago," Will noted, hand on his hip.

"Yeah Luna, you're really out of shape," Percy added, more concerned than teasing.

Luna's temper flared. "I'm used to riding places, not walking!"

"Lies," Will said. "You and Clara can go on shopping sprees that last hours and that never tires you."

"That's different!"

With a smirk, Percy crossed his arms and said, "I mean, we really should have seen it coming. Look at her — she has no meat on her bones! Just doesn't have the energy to walk."

Luna's cheekmarks glowed with a warning, which just made the two boys laugh. Her fingers tightened around the magic wand, but before she could move it so much as a millimetre, Zephyr knelt at her feet, back turned to her.

"I'll carry you," he said simply.

"...What?" Luna stared at him, dumbfounded.

"I'll carry you," Zephyr repeated. "You're small. I don't mind."

Her eyes darted uncertainly to the others. Percy just shrugged.

Hesitantly, Luna climbed on Zephyr's back, wrapping her arms around his neck. He stood, seemingly unencumbered, and kept an even pace with the others as their journey continued, even drawing ahead a little.

"Um... thank you, by the way," Luna muttered. "For the jacket."

"It's fine," he said.

"I'm sorry that you had to go without it."

"I'm the grandson of the North Wind. The cold doesn't bother me."

"Oh... right."

They walked in silence for a little while. The leaves above rustled.

"I'm sorry if I scared you yesterday," he said.

Luna's heart skipped a beat at the memory. She cursed herself, hoping against hope he hadn't heard that. "Oh that?" she said, her voice overly cheery. "Of course not! You startled me was all, I hadn't seen you like that before. I'll totally be prepared next time!" She threw in a fake smile, even though he couldn't see it.

For a long minute, Zephyr said nothing. _He knows I'm lying_, Luna thought despondently.

"I just..." She swallowed hard. "I thought you were one of those shapeshifters. A werewolf of some kind, like those guys with the leather belts."

"Wolfsriemen." He turned his head slightly to look at her. "You thought I was in a motorcycle gang?"

"Huh?" The thought was so ridiculous it made her laugh. "Nooo, I didn't say that!"

"That's what those guys are. They're... strange." He turned forward again. "I don't understand them. They insist on eating raw meat and call themselves packmates... but the purpose of it is unclear to me."

"I think it's just for fun? They don't do much other than howl at the moon and run around transformed, right?"

Zephyr shrugged. "Dad says they're harmless."

With a grin, Luna poked his cheek. "Have they ever invited you to howl with them?"

"No."

"Might be fun. Don't you want to know what it's like to party and run around like—" She stopped herself, but it was too late.

"Like a wild animal?" he finished.

"Yeah, like that," Luna said awkwardly. "You know," her voice sounded too carefree again, "one of my ancestors ran away and decided to live in the forest as a wolf. Dirhhennia the Heaped they called her, although I don't really know why. I'm not exactly sure if she actually turned herself _into_ a wolf, or just lived in the forest _as _a wolf, but it's one or the other." Crap, she was babbling. "But I guess she wouldn't be born for a few centuries now, huh. Not that it matters, really..."

Another silence stretched. Luna could hear Percy and Will talking and joking behind them.

"It's not a big deal," Zephyr said at last. "Most people think I'm human initially. I do look like one."

Her arms tightened around him. "But I'm not most people. I've known you for a long time now. It just... seems crazy that I'm... that I saw you for the first time only last night."

"That's a good thing." Leaves and twigs crunched under his boots as he walked on, not even short of breath despite how long he'd been carrying her. "I only lose control like that when I'm scared."

"... I was scared too," she admitted.

Zephyr slid down a grassy hill without even slowing. A ghost of a smile passed over his features. "You're a good singer when you're scared."

"Thanks." Luna grinned. "I didn't know that you were into Love Sentence. I'm kind of picturing you singing their cheesy songs and practising the routines."

His ears turned red. "They calm me. But no, I don't sing along. Is that what you do?"

"Absolutely! When I was little, I really wanted to have a mockingbird as a pet and sing the harmonies with it," Luna said, reminiscing. "Dad, er, wasn't too fond of the idea." She leaned her cheek against the top of his head. "This might be a weird thing to ask, but have you ever had a pet?"

He thought about it for a second and looked up at her. "Does Percy count?"

Once again, Luna laughed.

* * *

-O-

"They're getting along," Percy noted as he and Will walked behind Zephyr and Luna.

"Seems like it," Will said. "Remember when we saw Zeph for the first time?"

"Remember? I think I still have nightmares." Percy shivered. "And he's the _runt_. Can you imagine?"

Will nodded in sympathy. "When I was a kid my mom used to tell me stories, and if I was bad, she'd say 'You want the Big Bad Wolf to take you away?'. You don't wanna know what passed through my head the first time we saw it."

Up in front, Luna laughed.

"Luna tends to take things in stride." Percy smiled, keeping his eyes on her back. "And having grown up in Mewni would have helped. Their monster population is the highest in the world; she's probably seen scarier."

Will huffed. "It's the highest in the world because that's where they used to live before the Butterfly dynasty mowed them over. You don't really see them that much elsewhere." He looked up, making sure they were still following the smoke. Getting pretty close, now.

"They do throw the best parties, though..." Percy reminisced. "You haven't partied until you've been at one of DJ Slime's. That guy can—"

Suddenly, Zephyr stopped. Will and Percy did the same, waiting with bated breath.

As quietly as he could, Will approached. "What is it? Another ambush?"

"No," Zephyr said. "Smells. Iron. Food. Mud."

"Is it the Solarian Fanclub village?" Percy whispered.

Zephyr shook his head and then, crouching as if Luna weighed nothing, he sneaked soundlessly between the trees, finally stopping at a crouch behind a big bush. The others followed, and as they peeked above the tiny leaves, the sound of laughter reached their human ears.

'Village' might have been too fancy a word for what they saw. 'Outpost' or 'war camp' would have been more appropriate. Just beyond a small clearing where kids were kicking around some kind of ball, a dozen or so huts had been constructed, more for practicality than aesthetics. A few adults dressed in scraps of armour carried big, dead boars slung over their shoulders, laughing as they headed towards the centre where a large fire burned, just below a boiling pot. Still more walked between the huts, carrying weapons in big, thick bundles from one end of the encampment to the other.

And all of them were monsters..


	5. The Thing With Feathers

.

* * *

**CHAPTER 5: The Thing With Feathers**

* * *

Will's blood turned to ice in his veins. As he scanned the monster camp, the prince noticed that the kids in the clearing were playing with what appeared to be a human skull. Trying to focus, Will attempted to count the adults, his eyes peeking from every reflective surface in the camp. A puddle here, a gleaming shield there, a spoon shined by a muscular lady monster, who examined in it her sharp, pointed teeth… He counted twelve in total, but there could be more around — the glimpse of their armoury told him they were plenty of weapons, and definitely supplies for more than a dozen of the creatures.

"This is bad," he muttered under his breath.

"Why are we hiding?" Luna whispered.

Will pinched the bridge of his nose and massaged his tired eyes. "Luna, these aren't modern monsters, okay? They're not civilised, they're not gonna stop and hear you out. They are barbaric tribes, and if they saw a human just waltzing into their camp—"

"They'd play with them," Zephyr finished.

Will was about to ask what the hell that meant, but a gut feeling told him he already had the answer. "Don't tell me," he said, eyes still closed. "Percy is out there, playing with the kids." Wishing, against all reason, that he would be wrong just this once, Will opened his eyes to see the sunny moron twirling the skull on one finger, then bouncing it across his shoulders as if it were a basketball. Will facepalmed, while Luna giggled next to him.

"Whoooah," the monster kids chorused, impressed.

"Now check this out!" Percy started playing hacky sack with the skull, which was surprisingly bouncy.

"Ooooh! Teach us, teach us!" one of the kids exclaimed.

Back by the bush, Will groaned quietly. "That idiot's gonna get us all killed."

"I don't know about that," Zephyr said. "They seem to like him."

"Yeah?" Will snapped at a whisper. "And what happens when their parents get wind of this? Did you see that pot in the middle? It's big enough for all four of us, and I'd bet that's where that 'ball' came from!"

"Hey guys." Percy loomed over their hiding spot, carrying one of the monster kids on his shoulders. It had scaly grey skin, unnervingly blue eyes and the grinning maw of an alligator. "Dusty here says that the grown-ups have maps. And also that his mom has candy root slices for everyone."

Will just blinked up at them, questioning his own sanity.

Zephyr stood in one fluid motion, startling Luna, who clung to his neck with a yelp. "I don't eat roots," he said to the monster kid, "but is it okay to ask your mom if I can have mine juiced?"

At that point Will noticed that the other kids had gathered around as well, and one purple-skinned girl in particular was peering at him with her six insectoid eyes from the other side of the bush. Hastily, he stood. "Er, I'm afraid we can't stay, we're kind of in a hurry…"

The insect girl pulled on his sleeve. "But candy roots are only sweet in spring!"

"Yes, er—I, that is to say, we..." Will stuttered.

"And my pop is the best mapmaker _in the world_!" Dusty exclaimed, punching the air with so much zeal Percy swayed on his feet. "He can get you a map to anywhere, no problem!"

"See?" Percy beamed at his friends. "No problem."

"Last one there is a rotten human!" one of the monster kids shrieked, and the whole flock—along with Percy—raced towards the huts.

Luna leaned over Zeph. "Sooo… are you gonna let me down now?"

He grinned. "Don't wanna be the rotten human. Better hold tight!" He sprang forward, quickly leaving everyone else in the dust.

Everyone, including the very confused and worried Will Charming. Something tugged at his sleeve again.

Eight big, black eyes blinked at him all at once. "Am I a rotten human even if I don't run?"

"Nah," he said, surrendering to the insanity. "You have to be a part of the race for it to count. Want a ride?" The little girl's face broke into a smile, and without even waiting for him to kneel, six skinny arms climbed his body like a tree. "Whoa, you're a great climber!" Will said, securing her behind him. "What's your name?"

"Muffet," the girl said, wrapping all three pairs of arms around him. "Dusty makes fun of me a lot by calling me muffin. He says I'm too sweet to be a real monster."

"Boys say that kind of thing," Will reassured her. "He doesn't mean it; you're super monstrous."

"No I'm not..." Muffet said dejectedly.

"Yes, you are!" Will insisted. "You know why I shot up like that out of the bush when I saw you? Because you scared me."

A little bit of hope slipped into her voice. "Really?"

"Definitely."

She hugged him a little tighter, and he couldn't help but smile. Up ahead, Zephyr had been victorious, and the kids crowded him, asking for rides. Luna, once more down on her own two feet, was laughing with Percy as the kids jumped around.

Behind them, the adult monsters had started to notice. The two hunters by the pot turned to each other, looking grim. The woman with the sharp teeth Will had seen in the spoon stepped out of one of the larger huts. More and more monsters emerged, converging on the kids who were being entertained by Zephyr levitating the skull ball above their heads and making it do tricks.

"Mom!" Dusty tore away from the group and ran to a blue slime monster, observing with a furrowed brow. "Mom, Percy and his friends got lost and need a map, and I told them, I told them how dad's maps are always the best! They are the best ever, right Mom?"

"Right, Dusty," the slime said, patting her son on the head. Her face remained tense yet passive, eyes following the dancing skull which Zephyr let drop into the crowd of kids. "Let our kids go, humans… and we'll give you a map."

The air in the camp was heavy with tension. Adult monsters closed around them, leaving no obvious path for escape. Will felt his stomach drop.

"Hey we just played ball," Percy said, giving them a winning smile. "Plus, Dusty said there'd be candy root slices after the game."

The monster kids finally started to pick up on the fact that their parents didn't seem to welcome their new playmates and all huddled together. Even Muffet silently climbed down and joined the group. Will tensed, his hand itching to grab the handle of his mirror. If he managed it fast enough…

"Look," Luna said, "We didn't mean to impose, and please ignore my cousin, we're not after candy roots. We just needed some direction is all, and those Solarian Fanboys in the forest weren't the most helpful."

She probably meant to de-escalate, but Will could practically sense the hostility of the monsters rising at the mention of the other humans. Zephyr also seemed on edge, no doubt picking up on it.

Dusty looked up at his mom, then tried to run back to the group. His feet remained firmly glued to the ground, stuck in a puddle of blue slime.

"Muffet," one of the hunters called, voice gruff. "Come here."

Muffet clung to Will's arm, shaking her head. A few more kids got called, but none moved, perhaps sensing what would happen if they got out of the way.

Further away, Dusty struggled against the slime. "Mom, let me go!"

As Will frantically wracked his brain for a solution, Percy started toward Dusty and his mother, hands held up to indicate he was unarmed. No, Will wanted to scream, stick together! But Percy kept walking until he was kneeling before Dusty, who was now nibbling at his own leg. His mother kept watching, tense but not moving to attack.

"Don't do that, bud." Percy pulled the kid's jaws away gently. "Look, it doesn't seem like your mom wants us to play anymore."

"But that's dumb!" Dusty protested immediately. "You said you'd show me how to do that shoulder trick!"

Percy gave him a sheepish smile. "Yeah, sorry about that. But see, your mom thinks I might be dangerous. You don't want to worry her, do you?" He looked up to the slime monster. "We're sorry if we upset you, ma'am. I wasn't lying before when I said we just played some ball, but I can see why you'd think we might be like those humans in the woods—"

Dusty suddenly latched onto the teen's arm, glaring at his mother. "Not true! Mom, they're nothing like the humans in the forest — they're dressed different!"

Something rippled through the ranks of the adult monsters.

Dusty's mother gave Percy a sweeping look, though her face remained stony. "My son makes a fair point. Your clothing is… strange. Where are you from?"

"Corona," Percy said. "Um, you might have heard of it? It's not too far."

"Your king then," she said, "is Elias—"

"Herz," Percy corrected her. "Herz der Sonne. We're kind of distantly related."

Her posture relaxed, if a little. "We've heard of Herz der Sonne, even all the way out here. He has his own battles to fight, but he refused to join Solaria in her war. My husband says he never turns away monsters seeking asylum."

Percy beamed. "Yep, that's him." Noticing that she was looking at his sash, he removed it and held it out to her.

She took it, running her thumb over the sun emblem. Just loud enough to hear, she muttered, "The Corona sun. It's what Jonathan always uses to mark it on a map."

The slime around Dusty's feet melted away. The kid tipped over and fell to the ground, taking Percy along with an _oomf!_

"Sally," a harsh voice snapped. "This one has cheekmarks." Quicker than Will could react, one of the hunters had Luna by the elbow.

"Hey!" she writhed, trying to break free. "I'm on _your _side!"

Zephyr's whole body tensed, but sensing an unpleasant escalation, Will grabbed his arm. "It's true," he said to general murmuring. "This is Luna Butterfly, and she is of the royal family. But it's also true that she doesn't share Solaria's views. It's why she's here, rather than in Mewni. And why we are unarmed." To demonstrate, he opened his suit jacket. "Like Percy said," he continued, "we've met the locals. They didn't seem the type to talk first and attack later."

Another ripple went through the crowd. The truth, Will thought. They had to listen to the truth.

"I do apologise about my reckless friend," he said in his best Crown Prince Voice. "As we were lost, we followed the smoke and thought we might find a village. When we discovered a war camp, we thought we should move on without interfering with your activities, but despite what your eyes are telling you, he," Will nodded towards Percy, "is mentally not a day over five. Got my eye off him for two minutes and he'd already wandered where he wasn't supposed to be."

A few of the adults exchanged tiny smiles. Percy had the decency to look embarrassed.

"Humans lie," the sharp-toothed lady growled. "Don't trust a thing they say!"

"Then trust your own eyes. Look at us," Will continued. "Look at our age, what we're wearing, what we carry. Look at the truth!"

He could feel it working — pairs of piercing eyes scrutinised him and his friends, some lingering on the sash in Sally's hand and the way Dusty clung to Percy.

"I can see you're not sure, so how about we talk it over some candy root slices?" Percy piped up, cheerful again. Suddenly a puddle next to him exploded, smearing him in mud.

"Will you stop it with the roots?!" Luna exclaimed, incredulous, as he tried to wipe it away. "We're trying to build relations here, and all you can talk about is candy!"

"Bleh, it's in my mouth," Dusty whined.

"But Luna, we haven't eaten since yesterday," Percy complained, wiping the mud from his eyes. "Damn it! Do you know what my mom will do to me when she sees this? This jacket is _white_!"

"Should have thought of that before you started being insensitive!" Luna snapped.

"_I'm_ insensitive? You brought up the Solarian Fanclub!"

"You keep acting like they owe us food!"

The monsters, rightly confused, relaxed their stance a little as the two cousins bickered. Will knew he should do something now, while they were distracted. His first instinct would have been to grab his friends and hide away in the mirror — a safe move, which would guarantee escape. But… watching Percy and the monster kid down in the mud, it made him want to try the more risky option.

So he took Muffet's hand and led her to the hunter holding Luna. "Go on," he said, encouraging her to let go of him. She did so, hesitantly, and he held up a hand to the adult monster before him. "We'll have our friend back now, thanks."

For a long, long moment neither moved, while Percy and Luna still argued in the background. The hunter, who had a pair of very large and pointy-looking bull horns, glared down at Will with two beady black eyes. His gaze darted for a second over to Dusty's mother, who gave him the slightest of nods.

"Thank you," Will said, gently pulling Luna behind him. While this was happening, somewhere to the side Percy and Dusty were now wrestling in the mud. Will pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sweet Jesus."

The hunter eyed him with a grin and patted his back so hard his knees almost buckled. "Ha! I see what you meant — looking after children and child-minded teenagers is tough work, eh? Come, join us for lunch."

"Not before these two wash up," Dusty's mother—Sally—said, her face softened. "Go on, son, show your new friends to the washroom."

_Well I'll be damned_, Will thought as the atmosphere warmed considerably. Kids ran up to the adults to tell them all about the soccer game, and the hunters returned to their cooking.

"You must excuse our… inhospitable greeting," said Sally an hour later, as everyone had gathered around a smaller fire. "You see, we're in a rather compromised position."

Will nodded. "Anyone would be, in your situation. Do you find it hard to care for all these kids while the soldiers are away?"

Sally stared at him, shocked. "How did you know?"

Luna glared at him, and Will felt a little sheepish. Reining in his journalism instincts, he added with a wan smile, "It was a little obvious. Lots of tents, a bunch of kids… and only thirteen or so adults."

Gash, the bullhorned hunter, huffed, arms crossed at his chest. "They went off two days ago. A human battalion has been spotted coming our way. We're trying to hold our ground, but every day gets more… difficult."

Sally put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "The war has been hard on us. For years the humans continued to invade our lands and we've had to flee further and further. After our last settlement was overrun… Well, some of us think we should stop running and make a stand."

Gash snorted. "Should've fought back years ago. Anyway, no use cryin' over spilled mucus. Most of the lads are off to fight now. We're all that's left to keep the fort, and those kids aren't makin' it easy."

"You're telling me," the other hunter said, exasperated. Then something above Will's shoulder caught her attention and she shouted, "MIST, DO **_NOT _**PUT THAT IN YOUR MOUTH!"

Some of the other adults sighed as she got up and rushed over to the kid crouching by a muddy puddle.

Sally shook her head. "I swear, we can't get them to sit still long enough for the stew to cook."

"They might sit still for a story," Zephyr said.

Luna's face lit up. "Oooh yes! Percy, tell the Snow Queen story!"

"Heh, come on, guys." Percy grew a little pink in the face. "Two stories in a row?"

"We would be delighted to hear stories of your homeland," Sally said with a smile, to a general murmur of approval.

"It's actually about Will's homeland… though my mother does play a role," Percy admitted sheepishly.

Will fished the powdered dairy creamer out of his mirror and tossed it at Percy, grinning. "Don't forget your storytelling dust."

Percy laughed. "Okay, okay. But you're helping. You too, Zeph."

While Gash gathered the kids, Percy settled between his friends and waited for the audience to assemble. The monster kids, excited by the prospect of campfire stories, huddled around Luna and turned their little faces towards him.

"Okay everyone, settle down. What I'm about to tell… is the story of the Snow Queen." Percy threw a fistful of powder into the fire, and it roared high. "Once upon a time, there was a young princess with skin white as snow, hair as black as ebony and lips as red as blood. She was beautiful as she was kind, and her name was Snow White. Princess Snow married a dashing young prince by the name of Florian Charming after he saved her life, and they had two kids together — a pair of twins named Hans and Gerda. For a long while, the family was happy… but then tragedy struck. An illness spread over the kingdom, incurable and indiscriminate. Before they knew it, King Charming passed away, and little five-year-old Hans started showing symptoms of the disease. Overcome with grief and desperate to save him, Queen Snow did what she never thought she would." Percy paused, then did a sweeping gesture for dramatic effect. "She entered the room of her deceased evil stepmother."

The monster kids gasped.

"For you see," he continued, "this stepmother happened to be a powerful sorceress, who had a magic mirror that could answer any question asked of it." Percy turned to Will and made a beckoning sign. Catching on, Will took out his mirror and held it in front of his face. "She went up to it," Percy grasped him by the shoulders, "and said, _Mirror, mirror, as if rhyming mattered, tell me how to save my son or find yourself shattered!_"

Will lowered his voice, playing along. "If your son you seek to rid of this disease, the spread of it first you must freeze. I'm afraid that long enough he won't last, unless action is taken, and fast."

"Then," Percy said, "she saw in the mirror's reflection the answer to her troubles. Her stepmother had a crown, you see, a magical crown. It bestowed its bearer powers over snow and ice, but what she didn't know was that the powers responded to her emotions. And so, the moment she put on the crown," he reached into the creamer can, "a powerful snowstorm erupted!"

He threw a fistful up, and Zephyr blew up his cheeks, letting out a slow, cold breath. Bits of powder swirled in the air like snow, dancing up and down in the make-shift blizzard. The monster kids ooohed and aaahed, entranced. A few tried to eat it.

"And as the storm raged on," Percy continued in his most theatrical dramatic voice, "the mirror smashed into a million tiny pieces, some as big as grains of sand. And because Snow was so close to it when it happened, a piece of the mirror got into her eye, turning everything she saw ugly, and another lodged into her heart, leaving it… frozen."

Another pause.

"With her new powers, the queen was quick to freeze her son, giving her time to search for a cure. However, with the mirror now broken, she had no hope of finding one. And so, the Snow Queen spent her days riding the storm in her sleigh pulled by peryton, searching for pieces of the magic mirror and someone with the ability to put it back together. The world was left frozen in her wake — crops died and lakes turned to ice in the middle of July. After many days, she came upon a boy named Kai, whose last living relative, his grandmother, had passed away, unable to make it through the harsh cold. Kai wasn't an ordinary boy, oh no. He had _magic_. A very specific kind of magic, which gave him the power of mirrors and reflections. The Snow Queen took Kai to her castle made of ice and set him to the impossible task of assembling the mirror."

Will held up his own mirror to the kids, showing them the tall towers of perfect ice he still remembered, rising towards the sky.

"Then one day, a fairy came to the castle," Percy continued, voice growing ominous. "His hair was blue as the summer sky, his leather jacket black as a moonless night. He came for the ice crown, but this fairy also happened to be a Fairy Godfather, and with him was a young princess of no more than two. The princess' kingdom, a place called Oloria, had been frozen under the Snow Queen's eternal winter."

Percy levelled a stick at Will, and the two pretended to fling spells at each other, grinning like idiots while the monster kids cheered.

"I'm here to bring back summer!" Will exclaimed, lashing out with the mirror.

"_Not if I have anything to say about it!_" Percy returned shrilly, before slipping back into this storyteller voice. "Unfortunately for the fairy, the Snow Queen had Kai make her a mirror prison so she could stop anyone that would attempt to foil her plans." He swiped Will's mirror, holding it up.

Will winked to the kids, then vanished into the mirror dimension. Laying back atop the soft clouds, he let himself laugh, his eyes watching the real world through the reflection. The monster kids—and even Luna—looked genuinely worried.

"But," he heard Percy's voice, "as a grieving mother, the Snow Queen could not bring herself to hurt the crying toddler. So she took the little princess for her own, dried her tears and left her to play with Kai and Gerda, who had become very close. Though initially weary of them, the princess soon grew to trust them, and…" Will could feel the smile in Percy's voice. "And offered to share with them her candy bar."

Will huffed a laugh. It was such a stupid detail, but his father always mentioned it no matter how many times he told this to Will as a bedtime story. King Kai had been merely eight when the Snow Queen took him from his home, but the one thing that for some reason had stuck in his head about meeting Queen Rose had been… that she'd shared her candy bar. Years later, when Will and Percy first met, Will made a joke about it.

"But then… the fairy broke out of the mirror prison!"

Sensing his cue, Will gathered himself and popped out into the real world, snatching his mirror back. "Give me back my goddaughter, you… witch!" The monster kids cheered so loud his ears rang. Will landed a fake chop on Percy's head, and he fell back, collapsing into the dirt.

Even a few of the adults clapped as Percy pulled himself up. "But then, as the Snow Queen lay defeated, something unexpected happened. The little princess, who could barely understand what was happening, waddled over to her… and cried. Her warm, innocent tears dropped onto the queen's frozen heart, dislodging the mirror shard that had been piercing it for so long. Moved by the gesture and the sudden warmth, she cried, and thus the last piece of the mirror—the one stuck in her eye—finally trickled out. For the first time in a long time, Queen Snow felt like herself again. She hugged Kai and Gerda, and together they restored the mirror, which told them how to cure Hans. The eternal winter melted away, and they all lived… happily ever after."

The crowd erupted in cheers again. Percy bowed humbly, but his face was split in a giant grin.

"Wow, and that's real?" Luna exclaimed, still clapping. "I had no idea Aunt Rose did all that!"

"But so, so, what happened to the crown?" one of the monster girls asked.

"Well," Percy replied, "Queen Snow kept it, but she never again used it for evil. Kai and Gerda married when they grew up, and became King and Queen Charming."

"Who did the little princess marry?"

Percy chuckled. "She married the prince of Corona, and they had three children."

"The Snow Queen better stay good, because one day I'll be a great swordmaster, and if she comes back, I'll defeat her myself!" Dusty leapt to his feet, brandishing a stick.

"You can't defeat her with a sword, stupid. She'd freeze it!" one of the others countered.

"Well then I'll put her on the stove and let her melt!"

The laughter that ensued was interrupted by a harsh voice.

"Did you hear that, men? I warned you of this; even their little ones are bloodthirsty."

Everyone turned, only now noticing the sinister band of humans at the edge of camp. The adults sprang to their feet, ordering the kids to run inside.

Will, Percy, Zephyr and Luna stood shoulder to shoulder, tense and ready for anything.

"So, the rumours are true." One of the humans, a tall, scary looking woman with long, red hair, stepped forward. An ugly scar marred her face, running from her eyebrow to the upper lip, only adding to the menace of her smile. "Those Solarian dolts said there was a group of human teenagers travelling this way. Fear not — we've come to save you from the clutches of those evil monsters! Come, join our ranks in glorious battle!"

The teens didn't move.

"I think we're all good here, thanks," Percy returned.

The red-headed human seemed unimpressed. "Don't be fools. Come and join us, or get out of the way."

Will's mouth twisted into a smirk. "You know, I don't think we will do either. Seeing as you're afraid of us."

The woman slammed her spear into the ground. "Insolence!"

"Observation," he corrected. "You've heard of us through the Solarians. I guarantee that if they remembered anything about the encounter, it was one, big, black, snarling thing. And you're afraid to face it."

Next to him, Zephyr tensed. Will hoped he would stick it out long enough for the bluff to work, because if it came down to a fight, a giant cowardly wolf was not the threat he appeared to be. _Come on, Zeph. Don't bolt. _

The redhead's eyes narrowed. "I wished to give you an out. You all saw it, men, I tried to spare them." She reached into her belt and threw something in the air. "Scatter!"

The bomb landed right in the middle of the monster side, exploding in a plume of green smoke. Instantly, Will felt his eyes and nose burn, throat constricting painfully. But worse, much worse than that, was the ear-splitting howl that came from Zephyr.

"Into the med-tent!" Sally yelled from somewhere within the smoke.

Someone grabbed Will's hand, leading him through the green mist and into a musty tent, where he nearly doubled over, coughing. A small hand squeezed his arm, and he recognised Luna's cough next to him.

When he could draw breath again, Will was able to make out at least a few broad details through the persistent tears in his eyes. All the monsters and his friends had made it inside this spacious tent, illuminated by small balls of magical light which hovered above them. Blue slime sealed the flap, keeping the noxious fumes outside. Percy and Sally were kneeling next to Zephyr's writhing form, and just the image alone was enough to knock whatever air Will had left right out of his lungs.

Tears of blood streamed down Zephyr's cheeks as he clawed at his own face, gurgling in pain. With his every movement powerful gusts of wind shook the tent, threatening to send it flying.

"Hold him still!" Sally commanded as Will and Luna rushed over.

"Even if we could, he'd just blow us away!" Percy said, on the edge of panic. Luna, too, looked like she was about to fall into hysterics.

Will gripped Zephyr's shoulder. "Zeph, you need to stay as still as you can. You have to, or it'll get a lot worse."

"You can do it!" Luna grasped his hand in both of hers, cradling it to her chest.

Will could practically hear Zephyr's teeth gnash together as he stilled, blood trailing down his nose. Sally ground some sort of plants into a green-grey powder inside a stained mortar, then dripped some of her slime into it to make some very dodgy-looking jelly beans.

"Swallow!" she ordered, bringing them up to Zephyr's mouth.

He did so obediently. Another powerful gust erupted from him along with an agonised growl, before he went completely still.

"There," Sally said, placing her hand over his eyes. "That would knock out a horse. Should keep him down long enough for the effects to wear off." A bit of her slime remained on his face, like a semi-translucent sleeping mask. "My slime will help with the swelling. It's the best I can do."

"What… what was that gas," Luna asked, still shaking.

"It was a peppermint bomb," Gash said, joining them. "We use smaller ones to get rid of rats. Won't do you much harm usually, but your friend here… I've never seen anything like it."

Will and Percy exchanged a dark look.

"You were right," Percy said. "They knew about Zephyr, and they targeted him."

Will nodded, crossing his arms. "Yeah. They tried to take out the only hope we had of beating them."

"Well, if your friend really had a chance, then that's exactly what they've done." Sally put away her herbs and mortar, looking dejected. "As soon as the smoke clears outside… they'll overrun us, and we can surrender or we can die. We have no hope."

Percy and Luna would jump down Will's throat if he said it, but if they had literally any other member of Zephyr's family with them, the loss really would hinder them. However, Will knew that this wasn't the hit the humans thought it was, purely because Zeph wasn't the threat they thought he was. Hope was never there to begin with. They'd hurt him for nothing.

"Well the thing about hope," Percy said with a faraway look in his eyes, "is that it's never really gone." He rose to his feet. "Sally. Can I have my sash back?" Confused, she handed it over, and he draped it across his chest again. The Corona sun gleamed in the light above.

"Percy, whatever you're thinking, you don't have to fight for us," Gash said gruffly. "Even if you try to face them, I can't see a way to victory. You will die."

Will got a very, very bad feeling about where this was headed. "Percy, no. We literally don't have hope, in any meaning of the word."

Percy smiled. "Have some faith, Will." And without another word, he slipped out of the tent.

The adults stared after him, stunned. "He didn't even take a weapon," Gash uttered.

Will let out a heavy sigh. Then he stood. "It's come to this, then." His fingers curled around the handle of his mirror.

Luna surged to her feet. "Well he's not going out there alone!"

"He's not." Will gripped her by the shoulders. "But you're staying here. These monsters will need someone to be their last line of defence. If anything comes through that flap that isn't me or Percy, blast it."

"Will, you can't—"

"You still don't know how to use the wand, Luna. You might end up doing more harm than good out there. And besides that, Zephyr might wake up, and he'll need a familiar face next to him. Can I trust you to look after him?"

"But..." For a moment, he thought she might argue. Then, in an act that surprised him more than anything else that day, she drew him into a tight hug. "I'll look after him. But you have to promise to look after Percy." Short as she was, the words came out muffled against his chest.

Will caressed the top of her head. "I promise." When they pulled away she gave him a determined nod, and he plunged out into the noxious gas.

It was considerably less thick now, only traces of it lingering in the air. His eyes watered again, throat and nose burning, but he managed to push it down. Almost instantly he spotted Percy, who was staring into the distance, where the dark shadows of the humans slowly grew bigger.

"On their way already? Damn," Will said, standing next to his friend. "So… the two of us against all of them. Guess we better hope our swordplay class actually serves a purpose outside the school gym."

Percy gave him a wan smile. "You can still turn back, you know. I didn't make you come."

"It's in my best friend contract or something. I have to be here so you don't die."

"You know people hate it when you write down exactly what they say and then throw it right back at them, right?"

The redheaded woman emerged from the smoke, followed by her soldiers.

"Yeah," Will said. "I know."

* * *

-O-

All his life, Percy had been told the same thing over and over.

_You look just like your mother… except the attitude. You have your father's charm._

And he was always so proud to hear it. To Percy, King Curran Fitzherbert was a hero. For the longest time, whenever anyone asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, the answer was always 'like Dad'. His dad was ever confident, ever smiling, he didn't waste time second-guessing or worrying, and when the chips were down his goofy side took a back seat to a cool head.

But Percy did worry. Percy did panic, and scramble, and doubt. He didn't know what he would have done if Will hadn't remained calm back in the tent, and he didn't know what he would do now if his plan didn't work. Die, probably.

Almost absent-mindedly, he took off his necklace and turned the charm over. The upside to being a good storyteller was that he was also an okay actor. He knew, especially now with Will by his side, that he had to channel his dad and fake that easy, absolute confidence if he was to succeed. Percy could never imagine Dad second-guessing himself — he'd make a choice and stick to it, find a way to make it work even if it was the hard option. But, Percy supposed as he tied the necklace around his wrist and turned the charm again, the good thing about hope was that you never had to try to have it. It was just there. Always.

He waited as the smoke parted for the humans, who advanced in one big, menacing group.

The red-headed woman, now wielding a sword, stopped before him. "Have you changed your minds?"

"Nope." Percy grinned. "Though we thought you might have changed yours."

From the look in her eye, it didn't seem that she had. A nasty smirk pulled at the corner of her mouth. "I don't see your friends. They must not like peppermint."

Will tensed next to him, but Percy kept up the smile. "Not really, no. But there's no point in fighting anyway. This outpost is deserted — nothing but kids and a handful of caretakers. You might have gotten lost on the way to the battlefield; we've been told it's that way." He pointed at random.

Her smile faded. "There are weapons here. Resources. Monsters are evil, everyone knows that; even if they are little now they will grow up one day and come for us. However, I still don't wish to hurt humans. Leave now, or I will cut you down. This is your last warning."

Percy sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah, I thought you might say that." His thumb traced the N on the charm. "I don't want to fight either, but leaving is not an option."

The woman's features hardened. "So be it!" She swung the sword, and Percy turned the charm for a third time.

_CLANG!_

A gleaming blade met hers in a clashing parry. The sword was long and elegant, shining like silver, its crossguard in the shape of wings in flight. Percy held it with both hands, easily withstanding his stunned enemy's attack.

Will's jaw dropped. "How…?"

The woman snarled. "CHARGE!"

And suddenly neither teen had the time to celebrate, as the band of humans descended upon them in a flurry of swords and war cries. Percy was vaguely aware of Will snatching a sword from an enemy and whirling it while his mirror flashed between swings, sucking in attackers. The redhead was a relentless fighter, her blows almost knocking Percy back several times, but he still managed the occasional kick or pommel to the face on the rest of her company. Every time he knocked someone down, Will would be there, catching the stumbling soldier in the mirror.

The woman became more and more frantic with each lost man, and before long Percy managed to slip under her guard, landing a vicious elbow under her chin. She stumbled, and he knocked her back into the dirt, sword pointed at her throat. Her fists trembled in rage, but Will's foot appeared out of nowhere, kicking the weapon aside. What remained of her forces backed away.

"Yield," Percy said, breathing hard.

Her brown eyes stared back at him, burning. "What will happen to my men?"

"You'll get them back," Will replied, showing her the mirror. "And most of them will even be breathing." Inside its reflection, a cage filled with sweating soldiers hung above a pit of hellish flames.

There was a long moment of silence, before she said, "You have won." Percy stepped back, though he kept the sword pointed at her. "As is tradition," she said as she rose to her feet, "I must give you my name. You have bested Ava Loairn, The First Sword of Dalriad."

Percy felt a lump at his throat. "Dal… You're from Dalriad?"

Ava dusted herself off. "Queen Sophia has decided to join in Solaria's war. This was but a detour on our way to the front lines."

Something inside him snapped. "Well you can tell Queen Sophia that Prince Perceval Waltz won't let her get away with slaughtering innocents! I'm going to the front too, and when I'm done there I'm coming for her!"

Her eyes widened. "You...?"

"Me," Percy said defiantly. He levelled the sword at the rest of the soldiers. "Tell your families. Tell your friends. The Waltzes aren't dead, and one day, I'll come for you all and free you from the usurper. Keep hope alive."

Stunned murmurs passed through the band. Something changed in Ava's eyes. "If you truly are who you say you are… spreading the word is foolish. She'll be ready for you when you come."

"I'll take that chance." Percy lowered his weapon. "I don't care about Sophia, or what she thinks she knows. I care about my people, and I want them to know they are not alone. When I return—and I will—we can rise against her together."

Ava's expression was unreadable. She turned, the dark blue cape swishing behind her. "Tell my men to meet me at the northern camp when you release them. We can't afford more delays."

Will and Percy stood side by side, watching the humans as they trailed behind their leader, some sneaking glances over their shoulders.

"We're not _actually _going to the front, are we?" Will said quietly as the last of them disappeared between the woods.

"What? No, I just said that so she wouldn't send soldiers here to look for me." He glanced down at his jacket, now peppered with cuts and blood. "Aw man, this is the fourth jacket I've ruined! Mom will never let me hear the end of it."

Will huffed a laugh, crossing his arms. "Aha. So, Perceval Waltz now, is it?"

Percy flushed, grinning sheepishly. "Well it's not a lie, not really. I'm literally named after him, so I can claim it, technically. And the real Perceval will lead an uprising and branch off to found Oloria one of these days. It won't hurt to give people something to talk about."

Will's eyes slid to the sword. "Keep hope alive, huh."

Percy raised it up, and the feathers on the crossguard caught the light. Hope, the ancestral sword of his family, had belonged to Perceval, once upon a time. The blade was forged from Sky Silver, a metal that had been abundant in the past, but was no longer found in their current time. Light as air yet sharper than steel, it felt perfectly balanced in his hand.

"I thought you said Hope wasn't magical," Will noted.

"It's not. Neat blade, but perfectly ordinary. This, though..." Holding up his wrist for Will to see, Percy grinned and showed him the charm. "A summoning charm, courtesy of Uncle Moe. It draws the sword to it anywhere—and I guess any_when_—I am. "

"You guess?" Will frowned. "So you had no way of knowing it would work? Don't tell me you just… hoped it would."

Percy shrugged, barely hiding a smile. "Hope is like the sun. If you only believe in it when you can see it, you'll never make it through the night."


	6. The Greatest Showman

.

* * *

**CHAPTER 6: The Greatest Showman**

* * *

Percy adjusted the cuff of the long blue coat. Technically it was a gambeson, but it still fit him well and didn't encumber his movements. He knew the saying about not looking a gift horse in the mouth, but the calf-length would take some getting used to. Will had gotten the better end of the deal in his opinion — his was a dull grey and waist-long, reminiscent of the fencing armour they put on during swordplay tournaments.

"There." Will ran a wrist over his brow, having finished storing the supplies the monsters gave them in his mirror. The four teens were gathered at the edge of camp, surrounded by the farewell party. "That's everything, I think. Everyone ready to go?"

"Not quite." Sally stepped forward, smiling. "You two saved more than our camp yesterday. You saved our children, our hope for a better future. We can't ever repay you for that, but we have prepared a few parting gifts."

"I thought that's what the food and jackets were for," Percy quipped.

"The jackets are replacing the ones you damaged in the fight," Gash said gruffly. "Common courtesy. But to thank you… we dipped into our armoury."

Two monsters came forward, each carrying a bundle of cloth.

"For Will, who is always honest, even in the face of danger." Sally stepped forward and unravelled the first one, pulling out of it a polished arming sword. "May it be as sharp as your tongue and cut as deep as the truth."

Will accepted the sword, too awestruck for words. The blade was so shiny he could see his reflection in it.

"And for Percy, who defended us when he had no stake in our fight." Gash approached the second, much larger bundle, and revealed a silvery breastplate with splashes of blue feather-like designs. "An armour of Sky Silver, reserved for only our best warriors."

Ellie, one of the monster kids, grinned. "I made the feathers on it, just like your sword! Do you like it?"

"I…" Percy venerably took the breastplate, running his thumb over the designs. "I love it! You're gonna be a great artist one day, El." Beaming, he held it against his chest. "Do I look snazzy or what?"

"Yeah yeah, aha," Will said absent-mindedly, his own eyes still glued to the shiny new sword.

With a huge grin, Percy set about putting on his new duds. The modern competition armour he was used to was definitely a lot easier to deal with, but the ceremonial stuff he had was pretty similar to this. His fingers flew over the straps, securing everything in record speed. In addition to the breastplate, the monsters had also given him pauldrons, greaves, gauntlets, vambrace and faulds. He preferred it that way — partial armour allowed for better movement than a full suit, and he could live with the coat covering the rest.

"Hey, Inigo Montoya," Luna called. "Careful not to poke your eyes out! "

Percy looked up from the armour to see Will doing sword tricks for the kids.

"It suits you." Sally smiled, pressing a parchment scroll to his hand. "I've marked my husband's outpost on this. If you run into their company, tell them I sent you." Her hand came to rest at his cheek. "If Dusty grows up to be like you, I'll be a happy mother."

Percy blushed, flattered. Behind him more cheers erupted, and he turned to find Will's new sword flashing as he executed a complex series of moves.

"So," Luna said, leaning her elbow on his shoulder. "Now Zeph and I look like we're travelling with a couple of weirdos to the Renaissance Fair."

"Actually, we're in pre-renaissance times, so it's _us_ travelling with the weirdos. You're the fashion disaster here." He snickered when Luna looked down at her dress, suddenly alarmed.

"I'm not getting rid of the jacket," Zephyr said firmly.

Percy laughed, waving Will over. After they finally said their goodbyes, the four teens started down a forest path in a much better mood than the previous morning. As the others brainstormed names for Will's new sword up front, Percy unfurled the map.

"Um, guys." He came to a stop. "They didn't mark the camp on here." The others gathered round, peeking over his shoulder. "Where the hell are we?"

"Here." Zephyr stuck his finger in a forested area near the north end.

Will raised an eyebrow. "How can you tell?"

Zephyr stared back, clearly confused by the question. "Because… that's where we are."

Percy squinted at the map, trying to put the pieces together. Zephyr was a very linear thinker, so sometimes you just had to put the brakes on your brain and try to view the world through his lens of simplicity to understand what he meant.

"Oh, I see," Will said, taking the parchment. "The mirror took us through time but not space. So we came out of it here," he pointed to the north end of the forest near the ocean, "because this is where Oloria Castle will eventually be. Now we just need to figure out the shortest route to Mewni."

Zephyr dragged his finger along the map. "Through here. We'll need to walk southwest, through Corona, Saporia, and Überwald."

"And," Luna pointed out, "we'd need to cut straight through the Forest of Certain Death once we reach Mewni to get to Butterfly Castle on the other side."

Will scowled. "Oh great. Not only do we have to trek through vampire country, we also need to pass Monster War Central."

"At least it's not monster country yet," Zeph pointed out.

Luna leaned over the map. "Oh hey, this is where the Avarius Castle gets built! Maybe we could have safe passage if we hold off going for a while."

Will raised a sardonic eyebrow. "Hardly. Though the Avarius family were just political puppets of Crescenta Butterfly, they were still vicious, and she's not due to be born for a few centuries. Besides, the monster 'country' collapsed in on itself within a decade; that forest was historically never safe to travel through."

Luna pouted. "Well, I'm out of ideas then."

Zephyr shrugged. "We can try walking. The sooner we start, the sooner we get there."

Percy laughed. "Can't argue with that logic. Yoink!" He swiped the map, starting down the path.

The others shrugged and followed suit, while Percy walked with the parchment unfurled in front of him. There was the Corona sun, stamped right where the castle was, and there was the symbol of Saporia, which he'd only seen once. His eyes glided over the neatly inscribed names of various locations, searching for things he recognised. And then a realisation hit him.

Percy frowned at the map. "Oh my god. Are we in Whispering Wood? Holy crap, look at how big it is!" His eyes picked up a few other landmarks, not quite familiar but still vaguely Olorian. "I can't believe it used to stretch as far as the sea! And look, this rock that sticks out here, that's where the old lighthouse is. This rugged edge of mountain is Breakneck Pass, and here…" He trailed off. Suddenly, there was a lump in his throat. "Unnamed lake," he read out loud.

"Oooh, let me see!" Luna said excitedly, falling into step beside him. "Oh yeah, you can just about recognise stuff! Here are the docks, this is where the city of Ellyon will be. Wow, you're right, it's crazy to think that this whole area used to be Whispering Wood! Nowadays it's only a small bit here…" She trailed off, finally spotting it. Her big green eyes turned to Percy, full of sympathy. "Oh, Percy… The lake will get its name eventually."

Amazingly, that didn't make him feel better. "Unnamed," he repeated with distaste. "_Unnamed_ lake."

Will patted his shoulder. "I know, man. That sucks."

"I got Hope from that lake." Percy's hands shook. "My grandmother was trapped there for years. My sister _almost drowned in it_." The parchment wrinkled in his fingers.

"Percy," Will said carefully, "the country hasn't even been founded yet. You can't expect the lake to be named."

"Oh yeah?" Percy held up a hand. "Give me your pencil." For a moment Will stared at him in surprise, but a nudge from Zeph sent him reaching into his mirror. "I'll show you unnamed," Percy muttered, bringing the map up against a tree. The pencil scratched over it again and again, until the capital letters SWAN stood out more than any other location. "There!" Percy grinned showing off his handy work. "Swan Lake. Right as it should be."

The others exchanged smiles.

"We get it, bird boy." Will rolled his eyes, starting down the path again. "Now come on, get your feathers into gear. We have a war-torn country to traverse."

Percy followed, his mood elevated. The others continued talking about geography and roads, but his eyes remained glued to the map, mind wandering. Swan Lake… He'd promised to take Mei there, what was it, two days ago? Yes, in his head he knew that when they made it to Mewni, they could get back the very same day, and she probably wouldn't even notice he was gone. But still, he couldn't help feeling like he'd abandoned her. What would she think if she could feel the time passing like he did? Would she be mad? Sad? Disappointed? He wished he could somehow text her across time.

_I will take you to the lake, Mei. Just like I promised_.

* * *

-O-

Matt had been in crazy situations before—almost daily, actually—but this was on a whole new level.

He stood, shielding his eyes from the midday sun. All six of them had tumbled out of the mirror and into the middle of a forest clearing, and unless he heard that incantation wrong…. Mei had just sent them into the past. In general, Matt was a pretty chill guy; you kind of had to be, in his line of work. It was essential to adapt, to take even the worst situation and make it work for you. The others, however…

"Vhat. Did you do," Clara snarled at Mei, flipping back the golden curtain of hair.

Mei's face was unreadable. "I don't need to explain myself to you."

"Like hell you don't." Clara's fangs poked from under her curled lip. "Do you have any idea vhat you have done?"

Juliet took in the forest, mouth agape. "Are we seriously in the past?" A blue-winged butterfly fluttered by, perching on a bush. "Wow, it's so… beautiful."

"Are you for real?" Ajay snapped. "We're stuck in pre-indoor plumbing times, and your reaction is to admire the butterflies?"

"Oh boo-hoo, Prince Silver Spoon can't live without his iPhone." Mei rolled her eyes. "Spare me."

Suddenly Clara was in front of Mei, fangs bared. "You zhink zhis is a joke? You find it funny to fling us through time?" Her fists shook. "Take us back. _Now_."

Mei regarded her coldly. "The only way we're getting back is with Percy and the others."

Clara's hand twitched, as if she wanted to lunge for Mei's throat. "Do not pretend zhat you care about Luna!"

"Listen." Matt stepped between them. "I know that you're not into the whole team player thing, Mei, but not all of us are cool with being in the past. If you don't need them— and I don't know why you would— send Ajay and Clara back."

Mei just glared at him, her posture hostile.

A light bulb came on in his head. "You can't, can you." Oh, Mei had a good poker face, but to run a con you need more than the ability to keep your cards close to your chest. You had to be able to misdirect. "How _did_ you get us here?"

"Does it matter? We're _stuck_!" Ajay threw up his hands in agitation. "I can't believe this!"

"Ajay, it'll be alright," Juliet tried to say.

"Alright?! Listen, we're trapped in the past!" Ajay started pacing. "I have never in my life been more than ten feet from the nearest electrical outlet. If I'd known that my life would actually depend on it, I would have gone with mother to visit that stupid swamp and watch the fireflies instead of coming to Corona!"

"I, um, excuse me…" Colette said, so quietly Matt barely heard it.

Clara took in a deep breath, bringing her hands together. When she opened her eyes again, she'd plastered on a sticky-sweet fake smile. "Ve are stuck. In zer past. Zhat is okay. I can handle zhis. If you vill excuse me, dahlinks, I just need some fresh air."

"There's air all around you," Mei said bitingly.

"Um, excuse…"

Clara turned, walking serenely right past Colette and to the other end of the clearing. They watched her stop next to a tree and put her fist right through it.

"Yikes," Matt said. "Remind me never to piss her off."

Juliet stared at the hole Clara left in the tree. "She's taking this… hard."

Even Ajay looked a little taken aback. "Yeah. I mean I'm upset, but not punching trees upset."

"Anyone would be, in her situation," Matt said, watching as the vampire started to pace, wringing her hands.

The others stared at him, confused. Even Mei's glare was more intense than usual.

Matt sighed. There was nothing that got you to appreciate William Charming like being around other people. "It never made an impression on any of you how human she looks? The skin tone, the pink glasses, the hair?"

Everyone turned to look at Clara, who was still pacing across the clearing.

"The skin tone is from the vampiric sunscreen, they sell those in different shades," Ajay said.

"And what about her hair?" Juliet added. "It looks fine to me."

"Well… maybe you can't see it from your height, but from where I'm standing I can see black roots," Matt said. "She's trying to hide her nature. Fake tan, fake hair, obscuring her eye colour, making a YouTube channel… It's all her pretending to be human. But the past doesn't have hair dye or social media. It'll be harder for her to pretend in front of us."

Clara had stopped pacing and was now sitting cross-legged in the grass, head in both hands.

"The past doesn't have plasma fruits either," Ajay said nervously. The others glared at him. "What?"

"I'll talk to her." Juliet made a step forward, but a hand grasped her arm.

"No," Mei said. "I will." And without another word, she walked right by them.

It took a minute or two for the indignation to catch up with Juliet. "Did you hear her?" She crossed her arms with a huff. "'_I will'_. Since when is she such an expert?"

Matt chuckled to himself, patting her shoulder. "There, there. You don't always have to be the mom friend."

Juliet bristled even more. "Excuse me? I'm not _jealous_ of her, I just think that she's not the best person to be calming down distressed vampires!"

Matt smirked. "I didn't say anything about being jealous."

There were traffic lights less red than Juliet's face right at that moment.

"Um…"

Finally, Matt had the clarity of mind to notice Colette, who was staring down at her shoes, twirling the ends of her hair. He put on his most charming smile. "Do you need anything, Princess?"

"Um…" Colette almost seemed to shrink. "I… I just wanted to say that… I can sense Percy." Matt, Ajay and Juliet looked at each other, suddenly alert. Colette pointed to the right. "He's walking that way. Luna, Zephyr and Will are with him, too."

"Well, how far are they?" Juliet took a step forward, her face worried. "Can we catch up?"

Colette shook her head. "They're too far ahead. A day's journey, I think…. maybe more."

Matt frowned, thinking. If they were that far away, it was either because the mirror spat them out in a different location, or…. a different time. Maybe that incantation Mei did wasn't the most precise. His eyes wandered to the other side of the clearing, and he was surprised to find the two girls there still talking, miraculously both alive.

"We need to get moving then," Juliet said, riding up the sleeves of her plaid shirt, face hard with determination.

Ajay shot her an are-you-mental sort of look. "So we should just take off through the woods with no supplies on a chase that can last days?" He let out a long suffering sigh, hand covering his eyes. "Has no one here played _Don't Starve_? When you're thrown into the wilderness with nothing on you, you either find supplies or you die."

Juliet crossed her arms. "You just told us five minutes ago that you've never been far from an electrical outlet. Now you're offering wilderness advice?"

"Um…" Colette hesitantly raised a hand. "My family goes on nature hikes a lot. I think we should try to find food and water before we go after the others… We're no good to them if we can't catch up."

"Well, at least one of those is taken care of." Ajay held up a finger, and a swirling blob of water manifested out of thin air right above it.

Matt's jaw dropped. "You have water magic?"

Ajay shrugged. "Not something I use a lot, but yeah. I'm the god of any water source, except I steer clear of those. If you're thirsty in the middle of the night and don't feel like getting up, though, I'm your guy."

Trying to shake off the sudden shock, Matt's eyes wandered the clearing again, watching Clara and Mei talk. He thought about what supplies they would need, how they would carry them and how much that would slow them down. Then all of a sudden he saw Clara lunge forward and wrap Mei in a tight hug, and all other thoughts instantly derailed.

"Okay," Juliet said, "does anyone else see this or is Ajay's actual power illusions?"

Matt definitely shared the sentiment, especially when, after pulling away, Clara wiped bloody tears from the corner of her eyes. "Looks like you're needed, Water Boy," he said to Ajay, who glared at him.

As the others made to join Mei and Clara, Matt gently caught Colette's elbow. "One sec, Princess." He turned in the direction she'd pointed to before. "You said you can sense Percy from pretty far away. Is your Seismic Sense picking up any towns?"

Colette's gaze became unfocused. "Yes. Between us and them there is a war camp. Monsters. About a dozen of them."

"Anything more… populated?"

"Yes." She pointed again. "A human town that way. Half an hour on foot at most."

"Good, good." The wheels were already turning at full speed in Matt's head. "Okay, listen. I'll go over there and pick up the supplies we need. If we follow Percy and the others, how far until the next town?"

Colette blinked at him, surprised. "About a day or two's journey. But are you proposing to go to the town by yourself?"

He gave her a crooked smile. "I'm used to starting from zero, Princess. The rest of you aren't. Actually, speaking of that… Can I borrow the ring on your right hand?"

Startled, Colette cradled said hand close to her chest. "I'm—I'm terribly sorry, but this ring is a gift from my father. I couldn't possibly part with it."

"It's merely a loan." Matt turned up the charm on his smile. "You will have it back on your pretty finger by sundown. I swear it."

She still seemed unconvinced. "What will you do with it?"

"If I told you that, it would ruin the magic." Matt winked. "If you let me borrow this ring, I will not only bring it back—along with the supplies we need for the journey—but I will also bring you a necklace to go with it." As usual, Matt's tongue was running faster than his brain.

Her hesitance transitioned into scepticism surprisingly quickly. "A necklace?"

"That's right. The prettiest you ever laid your eyes on."

"And you'll carry all the supplies yourself?"

"Of course not. I will also have a carriage. And a horse."

"You will get all that. With a ring."

"That and much more."

Scepticism turned into amusement as Colette crossed her arms. "Such as?"

"Anything you wish."

"Anything? In that case I wish for a rose."

"Any preference on colour?"

The look on her face turned sardonic. "Come on, you can't promise such a thing. Just admit that's impossible."

Matt's smile widened. "Oh, I never promise to do the possible. Anyone can do the possible." Matt had made it a habit to only promise to do the impossible, because oftentimes the impossible _was_ possible, if you're creative enough, or at the very least you could stretch the limits of what's possible. And if you failed, well, it _had_ been impossible. "Your ring for a rose?" He held up an open hand.

Colette hesitated for only a moment more, then slowly removed the ring and placed it in his palm.

Matt squeezed her hand briefly. "You won't regret this, Princess." Then he turned and started in the direction she'd indicated, his head already buzzing with opportunities for making money.

It was odd, he thought to himself, examining the ring, that she'd asked for a rose. Her grandfather had been turned into a beast for one, if he recalled the story correctly. But they said her father was fond of roses; it made sense then that he would give his daughter a ring with a ruby cut in the shape of one. How much was this ring really worth, Matt wondered, turning it in his hand. A lot of money, came the immediate response, and he felt just a little guilty about seeing the angle in everything. She hadn't even found it odd that he'd noticed her valuables.

Before long, Matt found the outskirts of the town and managed to scale the outer wall without being noticed. Keeping close to it, he sneaked around to the closest laundry line he could find and swiped a modest shirt. Confident he could blend in for the most part, Matt stashed his hoodie in the hollow of a tree and walked out into the street with the easy manner of someone who'd been born within the town walls. He found the market by following a middle-aged woman with an enormous basket, and spotted what he was looking for within seconds — a sign that said _Beware of Pickpockets_.

Keeping it within view, Matt circled around, pretending to check out the strawberries. It took some time, but eventually a potential mark passed under the sign. The man looked to be in his early twenties, clean-shaven, wearing what Matt assumed to be a fashionable hat, and an absurdly loud yellow jacket which sparkled in the sun like a disco ball. He stopped under the sign, read it, and then his hands patted certain areas of his person. Matt kept pretending to examine the strawberries, but on the inside he was cheering. There was nothing better to a pickpocket than a sign warning of pickpockets — it made people check their valuables, announcing to the world—and the observant criminal—where they kept them.

Matt walked by the man, then turned, as if caught off guard. "Oh dear god. I almost didn't recognise you!" He gave the man his most charming smile and a friendly pat on the back. "It's been how many years now, six, seven? Man, you look so different. Would you believe we're both adults now? It almost feels like last week we were bent over all those maps and books."

"Er, yes," the man said, trying to be polite. "Yes of course, you look so different too!"

Matt grinned. "I know. I don't mean to brag, but I struck it kind of big since we last saw each other. I don't even know if you remember the plan I had, but it really paid off. Er, don't mind the simple shirt, I happened to take this off a servant — he spilled tea on mine, and today is sort of an important day. Looks like you did pretty well for yourself too." He swatted the man playfully on the chest.

The man smiled too, touching the brim of his weird headwear. "Ah, you noticed my new hat. Yes, I'm a merchant now, and I might even say I'm moderately successful in these troubled times…"

"Moderately? What are you talking about, I'm sure a guy as smart as you is prospering!" Matt gave him another casual pat.

With some attentive listening and the right kind of questions, Matt got the guy talking about his boring merchant ventures, generously giving more friendly pats to disguise the surreptitious lightening of pockets.

"It's great to hear you're doing well. I myself am a little nervous today." Matt leaned in, writhing his hands, and added at a whisper, "I'm on my way to meet a certain young lady. Do you remember that girl from the pub? The pretty one with the big, heh, eyes?"

The man's eyes sparkled mischievously. "Oh yes," he said. "I believe I do. How is she?"

"Oh, you mean the health thing?" Matt's face fell. "Yeah, she's…. not actually doing so well. They… they don't think she'll make it past thirty. That's why today…" Matt threw a look around and pulled out the ring. "Listen, I know what you're going to say, she's only a farmgirl, no title, no money, but I have enough, and… I love her. So I'm going to ask her to marry me."

The man examined the ring, carefully viewing the ruby from all sides.

"I had it custom made," Matt said. "All the way from France."

"But it must have cost a fortune!" the man exclaimed.

Matt schooled his features into a mask of pure sorrow. "I know. It did, I spent almost all my savings on it, but…. but I don't know how long I have on this earth with her. I need her to say yes, don't you see? I need everything to be _perfect_! I can always make more money, but I can only ask her to marry me once." He cradled the ring to his chest, pretending not to notice the sympathetic look the man threw him. "This is the worst possible day to have had my doublet ruined. I had this grand plan, and now look at me! She's going to think I'm a peasant with this stupid shirt!"

"Hey now, it's not so bad." The man patted him on the shoulder. "Look, I can see how important this is to you. Why don't you borrow my jacket?"

Matt eyed it with pretend uncertainty. "That jacket? I don't know, old friend, it's a little… extravagant."

"Nonsense!" the man huffed, already shrugging it off. "It is a perfectly suitable jacket, and it conveys stature. Take it, friend. Better than that shirt."

Matt took the jacket, speechless. "I… I don't know what to say." He grabbed the man's hand, shaking it earnestly. "I don't know how to thank you. I'll bring this back to you tonight, and listen, if you're ever in my part of the woods, you must visit. You _must_, do you hear me, even if it's just for tea. Oh my god!" He slapped his forehead, panicked. "I'm supposed to be on my way to her already! Quick, quick, help me put it on!"

And with a few more stammering thank yous, Matt disappeared into the crowd, leaving his target smiling and waving after him.

After rounding a couple more corners, he stopped to take inventory — a purse, of course, full of strange gold coins, an invitation to some sort of ball, a signet ring with what he assumed to be a Merchant's Guild logo, a small ball of red yarn, and a shrimp. Slipping the signet ring on and pocketing the rest, he threw away the shrimp, already thinking of the next step of the scam. Now that he looked eye-catching yet rich and had managed to obtain proof of his credibility, all he had to do was gather some rocks.

* * *

-O-

Matt squinted up at the sun, trying to judge how long he had until sundown. It must have been three hours at least since he started selling his rocks, and he'd already made enough for a few weeks worth of supplies. Colette's new necklace was already nestled in his breast pocket, and he'd bought a nice wagon—complete with a horse—with the money from his first mark. He could start heading back right now, but one thing still eluded him. The rose.

If they were still in Oloria, nothing could have been simpler. The country was famous for its roses, and Percy talked about his grandmother's rose garden a lot. But, as far as he'd been able to piece out, they were nowhere near Ellyon City; people hadn't even heard of it. He'd seen flowers for sale, but thanks to his own genius, he couldn't leave his precious stock and wander around, searching for a rose. His humble wagon was already surrounded from all sides by a crowd.

It was a rather simple scheme, really. If you dressed the part and you acted the part, people tended to convince themselves of whatever you were trying to sell them on. If someone shows you a Merchant's Guild ring and has a cart full of stock, you assume it's got to be legitimate. If that someone is dressed well and sounds smart, even the most ridiculous thing starts to make sense. Despite what your eyes tell you, you start believing that simple rocks you're pretty sure you've kicked down the path before are actually Magma Stones, very rare indeed, and you can almost feel the magical aura they emit. Why else would there be a four per customer limit? Everyone knows that too much magic can scramble your brain. Matt was only looking after the wellbeing of his customers, which was, of course, his top priority.

And there was the demonstration, to convince anyone still undecided. The first part included people spreading their arms wide and Matt pushing down on them at the elbow to show how out of balance they are with nature. The second part was pretty much the same, except they had to hold one of the Magma Stones in each hand, and when he tried it again, they could not be budged. Of course, the second time he was pressing at an angle rather than straight down, but people didn't notice. People didn't care. They convinced themselves that he had magical rocks, and they were willing to pay good money to be one with nature once more. All Matt had to do was smile and take that money.

And then, halfway through his next sales pitch, he spotted it.

"You there!" Matt parted the crowd, his face awed. "You… most beautiful creature. Please, stop for a moment so that I may admire you."

The plump, middle-aged woman stared at him blankly, then turned her head left and right, searching for the person he was talking to.

Matt approached, falling down to one knee. "One look and you have captured my heart. Talk to me, oh angel, and say you are not married." He gave her a well-practiced besotted look.

The woman opened and closed her mouth a few times, uttering a few unintelligible syllables.

"Oh no…" Matt took her hand in his, heartbroken. "Is this a ring? Please say my eyes deceive me."

He could almost feel the crowd's sympathetic looks. The woman turned red, muttering apologies.

With a heavy sigh, Matt stood. "Oh fate is cruel. It's alright, I understand. May I?" He reached into the basket hanging from her elbow, retrieving a red rose. "It is not quite so beautiful as you, but may I keep this to remember you by?"

Put on the spot, the woman turned an even deeper shade of red and murmured a yes under her breath.

Matt pressed a kiss to the back of her hand, then announced in his most sorrowful voice that he could not stand a single moment more in the place where his heart had been torn to pieces. Thanking his customers, he got on his wagon and headed for the town gate, leaving the waving crowd and their cries of farewell behind.

* * *

-O-

In spite of herself, Mei had to admit that she was sort of having fun. While Matt was doing who knows what, the four girls and Ajay played a few games of Never Have I Ever, which Clara kept winning. To give everyone else a chance, Juliet proposed a restriction of the past fifteen years only. This resulted in the vampire pouting and protesting that she had already done X thing only a few decades earlier. Juliet and Ajay practically rolled on the grass laughing whenever that happened, and even shy Colette couldn't help a chuckle. Mei only allowed herself a smirk, but honestly it was starting to get hard to keep in her giggles.

"Zhat is most unfair!" Clara huffed, crossing her arms. "Of course I vud have had my first kiss in zer last fifteen years if I vere human! Zhis limitation is ridiculous!"

Ajay and Juliet laughed harder, leaning on each other. Then suddenly Colette sprang to her feet, her mirth giving way to surprise.

Mei was next to her before the others had even turned. "What is it?" she asked, tense. "Danger?"

"No," Colette muttered. "It's Matt. He did it! He's by the road, writing on the ground. He wants us to meet him there."

Mei frowned, instantly mistrustful. "But he said to wait here. Are you sure it's him?"

"Of course it's him," Juliet said. "Who else would know to write on the ground?"

This made sense. Mei didn't like that it made sense. "Okay then. But stick close together." Clara smiled at her, and Mei's frown deepened. "It's strength in numbers. You can stop staring." To her irritation, the vampire didn't reply but her smile turned amused.

Grumbling internally, Mei followed Colette through the woods. It may have been a mistake opening up to Clara like she had. She'd justified it to herself at the time, argued that a calm vampire would be more useful than a rattled one, but sharing so much felt a little too… baring. No one knew the truth about her and her family. Well, no one but Percy, and she'd had enough trouble adjusting to one person being in her corner. Weaknesses, that's what they would become. Liabilities. Tragedies. But a stupid little voice inside her head couldn't help but think that maybe out here in the past, it would be okay. Her grandfather didn't have reach here, couldn't use anyone against her. So it was okay, wasn't it? As long as it stayed in the past? Or was that just the foolish voice of hope?

Colette ended up leading them to a small dirt road, where a whole wagon awaited them, along with the grinning Matt.

"Oh my god," Clara gasped. "Vhere did you get all zhis?"

"And what are you wearing?" Juliet added with a teasing smile, eyeing his sparkling golden jacket.

Matt shrugged, nonchalant. "I'm a man of my word. Which reminds me." He held up a red rose to Colette, bowing. "For you, Princess." She took it, looking a little stunned, and he also presented her with a small felt bag. "Your ring, and your necklace. Thank you again for letting me borrow it."

"I… Ho— How did you do this?" Colette stammered.

Mei rolled her eyes. "He stole it. Obviously." The whole group turned to stare at her. "Oh please," she said. "Where else would he have gotten a horse from?"

Ajay crossed his arms and turned to Matt. "You committed medieval grand theft auto?"

"What? No!" Matt protested. "Look, Mei, I don't know what I did to give you that impression of me, but I—"

"You're a crook," she said flatly. A deafening silence fell over the group. Matt just stared at her, thunderstruck. "And I wouldn't trust anything you have to say, because any minute now you'll try to sell me shit as gold." Mei took a step forward and added in a quiet voice, "You think I don't know your type, Parker? You think I can't smell a rat when it tries to charm me? I have three guys like you in my gang. Not one of them has made the mistake of lying to me." She stared him down, eyes cold. "Will you?"

"But he's not lying," a timid voice came behind them.

Mei turned, seeing Colette with her eyes on her shoes, clutching the rose. "And you know this how?"

"I, um, I, through…." The rest was an incoherent mumble.

"Speak up!" Mei demanded.

Colette jumped. "Through the earth!" she squeaked. "I can tell if someone is lying through the earth."

Mei shot Matt a sideways glance, practically hearing the alarm bells that set off in his head. With a nasty smirk, she said, "Well then, I'm sure the story Matt is about to tell us of how he got all this stuff will be completely truthful."

Juliet sighed. "Does it really matter how he got it? We're not exactly in a situation to be picky."

"Obviously it matters," Clara said. "If ve cannot trust him to tell us zer truth, how can ve trust him vit anythink else?"

"Actually, that's simple." Matt was smiling again, looking right at Mei. She glared at him in return. "You will trust me because Percy trusts me."

The others' reactions to that statement varied from surprised to amused, but Mei managed to keep her face blank. "Percy trusts everyone."

"That's not exactly true," Matt countered gently. "He gives everyone a chance. But he wouldn't, let's say, let just anyone watch over Zephyr when he has the earbuds on. Or invite them to his birthday." Mei's eyes narrowed. "Think about it," Matt continued, opening his arms wide. "We're a nerd, a vampire, a shrinking violet, a mechanic, a conman and a villain. We have nothing in common… except the fact that Percy trusts us. I'm sure you've all figured it out by now, but he's a scarily good judge of character. He has this uncanny ability to see the good in people, even when they can't quite see it in themselves." Those last words struck a chord, and in that moment everyone shared a look of silent understanding. "In his own words," Matt said, drawing closer to Mei, "Percy trusts either instantly or never. I'm here because he saw something in me, just like he saw something in you. I won't ask you to trust me; you don't even know me! But I'll ask you to trust him."

A silence fell over the group as everyone thought this over.

Ajay sighed. "Man, if you are a crook, you're a damn good one." He hopped on the wagon. "Come on, people, we're wasting time."

Clara shrugged, climbing on, and Juliet sat behind the reins. Matt helped Colette aboard, then held up a hand to Mei. She ignored it, getting on last.

"For the record," Mei said as Matt passed by her on his way to the front, "I still don't trust you."

Matt paused. "That's a good call," he said. "I wouldn't trust me either." Then he shot her one last smile and got on next to Juliet. "If the others are walking west, we should be able to intercept them in the next town over. Giddyup, Charming!" The wagon slowly waddled along the black road.

"You named the horse Charming?" Juliet snorted. "After Will?"

Mett grinned. "A lowly orphan can't order around the Crown Prince of Trebor, so I'm living out a personal fantasy."

Everyone else chuckled along, but Mei's scowl only deepened. She laid on her back, watching the clouds crawl lazily across the sky as the soothing sound of turning wheels dulled her worries. There was dragging across the wood as the others inched closer to the front. A few minutes later, another form spread out next to her, and a cold hand squeezed hers.

"It vill be alright, dahlink. Don't stress so much." Mei didn't reply, but she didn't pull her hand away either. Clara turned over, now laying on her stomach, still holding Mei's hand. "You know, I zhink if you explain zhings to Luna, it can be so different vhen ve go back."

Mei kept looking at the clouds. "I told you why I can't."

Clara's face twisted in sympathy. "It is not fair. Look at me, I broke avay from zer expectations of my vampire father. You can do zer same."

"Clara. It's not the same, and you know it."

Clara squeezed her hand. "Ve don't have to resign ourselves to beink tragedies."

Mei slipped her hand away. Maybe Clara could put on pink-tinted glasses and be happy, but Mei couldn't afford that kind of complacency.

Clara turned over once more, shielding her eyes with her wrist. "Vake me up vhen ve're zhere, dahlink. I so dislike zer country."

The others started talking about something up front, letting out the occasional laugh. Was this what it was like, Mei wondered, to be on a trip with friends? Not that she was friends with any of these people, regardless of how Clara had softened up. But it felt different than being out with the Red Vipers, on edge all the time, knowing she was being watched each second. This was somehow…. comfortable.

Still, a certain distance had to be held, Mei reminded herself, a certain image maintained. But after a whole day with them, she couldn't help… liking these people. A part of Mei—a very small part, minuscule really—felt horrible that she'd inadvertently sucked them into the past with her, and wanted to make sure they all got back to their normal lives.

_Is this what you were hoping would happen, Percy?_

A streak of yellow in the distance caught her eye, and Mei couldn't help but smile. Sunflower fields. He'd brought sunflower seeds with him, that first day. It was funny, really, how an act of malice could backfire so badly…

It happened near the beginning of the school year. Away from home and the ever watchful eye of her grandfather, Mei enjoyed boarding school and the relative freedom it brought. But tongues wagged, and she was forced to keep up her reputation of being ruthless, of being a villain. Sure, she'd seen Perceval Fitzherbert and his little posse around school, but she hadn't really paid him any attention, hadn't talked to him until that day. Until they became lab partners.

He'd volunteered. Mei never did find out why he did it, but they got paired up, and one day he forgot his textbook. When he asked if they could share, Mei crossed her arms, sneered and berated him for being an idiot and the grandson of a petty thief. Such things never seemed to faze Percy. He just smiled in return, and in what he probably thought was a playful gesture, swiped the textbook from her bag. Except it wasn't the biology textbook. He'd grabbed her feather album. She took it back, of course, but it was too late — he started to suspect her.

A few weeks later, when Mei went on one of her trips to feed the ducks in the moat, Percy appeared out of nowhere, offering a bag of sunflower seeds.

Mei instantly turned hostile. "What are you doing here?"

Percy shrugged. "I see you sometimes on my way to swordplay practice. You come to feed the ducks, don't you?"

"That's none of your business!" she snapped, suddenly defensive.

"Well no," he admitted, the smile never fading, "but I'm worried about the duckies. They're gonna get fat with all that bread you keep giving them. So I brought this!" With a grin, he held up the seeds.

She frowned. "Since when do you care about the weight of ducks?"

Percy shrugged. "Dunno. Since when do you collect bird feathers?" Plopping down on the wooden bridge, he scooped up a handful of seeds and flung then down to the birds.

That was the moment Mei could have walked away. She could have turned and never looked back, could have continued her life without ever letting him in it. But instead she sat down next to him, watching the ducks swim below.

"That wasn't mine," she lied. "I took it off some kid."

He huffed a laugh, scattering more seeds in the water. "Right. That's why you threatened to pull out my fingernails with rusty pliers if I didn't give it back." Turning to her, Percy wiggled his fingers. "Still have all ten."

"Not for long if you keep annoying me," Mei bit back.

With a shrug, Percy looked back to the birds. "Maybe. But see, I don't think you'd do that. I've seen you threaten lots of people, and I have yet to witness a single mutilation."

Cold dread crept up her chest. "Cut the bullshit. What do you want?"

Percy chuckled. "Okay, Miss Let's Get Down to Business. I'll keep quiet about your little feathery secret… if you'll be my friend."

Mei stared at the hand he offered, completely dumbstruck. "Are you stupid?"

"My friend Will calls me that at least twice a day, so I might be," Percy admitted, his grin never fading. "That doesn't really answer my conditions, though." She kept glaring, so he shook the seeds bag enticingly and added in a sing-song voice, "I'll share my sunflower seeeeeds."

"Why," Mei asked. "Why would you want to be friends with someone like me?"

"Is it so weird to say that I want to know more about you?"

"_Yes!_"

He laughed. "Fine, then it's because we're lab partners. We'll do better if we get along, yes?" She just kept glaring at him, so he said, "Friendship for my silence. That's my deal — take it or leave it."

Mei's eyes fell down to his offered hand again. He didn't know at the time what a blow to her reputation would mean, but to her this blackmail had real weight. She didn't really have a choice.

Instead of shaking his hand, Mei swiped the seeds off him. "Fine, I agree to your terms, as long as it doesn't damage my rep. What is my end of the bargain?"

He held up his hands. "Okay, okay. Let's just… meet here to feed the ducks once a week."

She threw him a suspicious look. "That's all?"

"That's all."

A laugh echoed from the front of the wagon, shaking her from the memory. Mei opened her eyes, watching the clouds as they moved overhead. Percy sees the good in people, even when they can't quite see it in themselves, and he'd seen it in Mei when she'd been trying so hard most of her life to hide it. Whatever this place was, whenever in time they were, she was going to get him back to his home. There were no buts or ifs about it.

_I will find you, Percy. I promise._


	7. Scarborough Fair

.

* * *

**CHAPTER 7: Scarborough Fair**

* * *

The black road transitioned into cobbles as the wagon entered the town. Charming's hoofbeats echoed in the empty streets. Ajay felt that tingling up his spine, like when he entered a boss room.

"Guys," he whispered, "is anyone else getting a bad feeling about this place?"

Next to him, Mei switched to a crouch, as if she expected an ambush. "It's too quiet. Where is everyone?"

"That way." Colette pointed up the street. Her eyes had that unfocused look again. "There's a gathering of some sort… lots of people."

"I vud zhay zhat I am glad to be back to civilization, but zhis town barely qualifies," Clara said, peering critically over the edge of the pink glasses. "Please, somevun tell me Starbucks exists in zhis time."

Matt snickered behind the reins. "I wouldn't hold my breath."

"Oh, I can hold my breath for a very long time, dahlink." Clara winked at him. "Zer problem is zer thirst."

Everyone else laughed, and Ajay couldn't help but wonder why they were all so blasé about this. There was a freaking _vampire _with them, and in an age before freaking plasma fruits were a freaking thing. What if she decided to drain one of them? Or all of them? Sure, she was fine now, but what about when she got hungry? Maybe he'd played too many vampire games, but this Clara chick made him feel on edge.

Music and chatter reached their ears, and when the wagon made a turn, they came upon a crowded square.

"Looks like some sort of festival," Matt noted as he steered Charming between the booths and towards the wagon area.

Mei's usual glare bounced around the crowd. "What could they be celebrating in April?"

"We don't know that it's April," Juliet said. "We leapt through time, you know."

Mei scowled, but just as her mouth opened to retort, Clara grasped her hand excitedly and said, "Does zhat mean ve get to vander around vile Luna and zer boys catch up? I just spotted a face painter, it vud make for a great Instagram story!"

Ajay crossed his arms, annoyed. "Yeah, I'm sure everyone in the 1300s will love it, except, oh right, _Instagram doesn't exist yet_."

Clara rolled her eyes at him. "Obviously I vud post after ve get back. No need to take out your frustration on me, dahlink."

Ajay, incensed, stood up straighter, but Juliet's hand grasped his shoulder gently. "It's okay, Ajay. We're all a little on edge. Just lay back."

Grumpy, he complied. Matt parked the wagon, and everyone got off, looking around the fair. No one paid them any mind.

"Colette, how far away are the others?" Matt asked.

She closed her eyes. "Still rather far. They've made a stop in the woods… I can sense a cave there, and a girl…"

Ajay groaned, facepalming. "Ugh, that is so Percy. The guy is never on time for anything; if he doesn't stop on the way to help someone move, it's to find a lost puppy or something."

The others exchanged a knowing look.

"I would say it might be one of the others that caused the delay..." Juliet started. " But when you're right, you're right." She smiled, clapping her hands together. "So, do we just wander around town until they get here?"

Matt straightened up, throwing the girls one of his toothpaste commercial smiles. "It wouldn't hurt to have a look around the festival, would it. We'd blend in better if we split up so we don't attract attention." He offered his hand to Colette. "The princess and I will be team one."

Ajay rolled his eyes. One, there was only six of them, no one even gave them a second look, and two, splitting up was objectively a terrible idea. Not that any of it mattered, because it was just an excuse for Matt to flirt with Colette.

Colette herself seemed very uncomfortable at the idea, eyeing the offered hand warily. "Erm, I… That is to say, I..." The rest of the sentence was too quiet to hear.

"She is our tether to the others," Mei said out of nowhere, stepping between Matt and Colette. "She's not leaving my sight."

Matt's smile didn't waver. "We won't abandon the rest of you; it'll only be for an hour or two. Right, Princess?"

Colette started twisting the ends of her hair. "Um, I…"

"She has a name," Mei said, maintaining her glare. "And she's coming with me."

"Why you?" Matt demanded.

Colette's eyes were glued to the floor as she kept fidgeting with her hair nervously. Ajay felt a pang of sympathy. It was like looking at a mirror of his twelve-year-old self during gym.

"Here's a novel idea," Ajay said. "Why don't we pretend like Colette is an autonomous human being capable of choice? Just _ask _her who she wants to go with."

The group all turned to look at him. Juliet gave the princess a friendly smile. "That's a great idea. Colette, if we're splitting up, who would you like to go with?"

"Erm, I..." Colette's hands curled into fists, clasping the fabric of her skirt. She mumbled something under her breath.

"Oh for fuck's sake," Mei said, exasperated. "For the millionth time, stop mumbling like a mouse and speak _up_!"

Colette's fists shook. "I'll go with Ajay," she repeated, louder this time.

That came as a bit of a shock to the others, most of all to Ajay. He never got picked for anything irl. "Er… Are you sure?" he asked, not knowing what else to say. With her eyes still at the ground, Colette nodded and came to stand next to him.

Matt, now speechless, opened and closed his mouth a few times. Clara patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Zhere, zhere. I vill explore zer festival vit you, dahlink."

Mei was smirking, but Juliet looked somewhere between uncomfortable and dejected. "I guess that means Mei and I will have a look around…"

Mei shrugged, her face reverting to blank indifference. "If we must."

"We can all meet back here at the wagons at sundown?" Juliet proposed.

Everyone agreed, and they all broke off into their little groups. Ajay walked with Colette, hands in his pockets, wondering if he should be making conversation. Truth be told, he was better at online chats than this… whatever this was. You had time to read your message in the chat, erase or think over your answers, this whole real time thing tended to throw him off. He'd think of a joke or something mid-conversation, but not say anything until the moment passed and it was awkward to bring it up, or he'd space out for a sec and miss parts of what was being said, then panic because there wasn't a chat log to check. Online he was funny, and confident, and the life of the party. Face to face he was an awkward nerd.

Something tugged at his sleeve. "Ajay, look." Colette pointed at a wide open field, lined with targets. "They have an archery range."

"Oh, um… I can't really shoot a bow. Did you want to go?"

She blinked at him with those big green eyes. "No, I can't either. I just thought… your character in League is an archer, right?"

Staring at her, Ajay tripped. "What?" he exclaimed, straightening up with her help. "I mean… you play League of Champions?"

"Um, no!" Colette said, startled. "I mostly play single player RPGs, online games kind of intimidate me. But, I just, I mean, Percy said that you play League. I've watched a couple of your matches, and I was there once when you sent him a joke about arrows in the knee?"

Now it was his turn to open and close his mouth like a fish. "You're… a gamer?" Colette nodded, looking down at the ground again as if she wished it would swallow her. Ajay cleared his throat, searching his brain for a change of subject. "Did you say Percy talks about me?"

She started twirling her hair again. "Um, yeah. He shows me jokes and funny pictures you send if I'm in the room when he gets them. And he sometimes tells me stories of the games you've played together. Is that… should he not have told me?"

"Er, yeah. I mean, yes, he should have. It's okay. It's totally tubular." _Totally tubular? Why did I say that? God kill me now._ "I just didn't know he shared our conversations. Or that he talks about me to his real life friends. I, um, assumed only he read my messages." A momentary panic struck him as Ajay remembered a lot of inappropriate jokes he'd made in those. "What else did he, uh, share?"

Colette shrugged as the two started down the street again. "Just whatever he thinks is funny, I guess. Um, that one story of how you fell from a boat. And the headband your boyfriend made you when you won the League championship, er… third year in a row?" Something caught her eyes, and she stopped to examine the sparkly baubles on a jewellery stand.

Ajay's posture relaxed somewhat. He should have known that Percy wouldn't share vulgarities with this girl. "Yeah," he said, next to her again, and watched her run her fingers over a delicate silver necklace. "He talks about you, too."

She glanced at him, and for the first time since he'd landed on Corona's shores, Ajay saw Colette really smile. "I bet it was to tell you about the time I sneezed for fifteen minutes straight. He loves to tease me with that story."

"No! Well yes, but no. I mean..." _This is why people think I'm single._ "He has told me that story, you have to admit it's kind of ironic for the daughter of the Rose King to have pollen allergies. But he's told me other stuff, too. The Fitzherberts have kind of adopted you as an extra sister."

This time Colette chuckled, moving away from the jewellery stand. "I feel a little bad for Percy. Between the twins, me and Luna, he's surrounded by girls. My brother Aramis came along too late to be a proper playmate."

Ajay snorted. "He's two, isn't he? That's basically Percy's mental age; they'll get along fine." Colette laughed again, and it encouraged him to ask, "So why did you choose me?" They stopped by a few tables where old men played chess, lingering in the small crowd. "I mean, you could have gone with anyone."

Colette grasped the end of her hair. "Well, that's obvious, isn't it? Because you gave me a choice." She looked at him. "Were you hoping to go with someone else?"

"Er no, that's not it!" Ajay said, quickly. "I mean I wouldn't have chosen you… I mean, I didn't get to choose… Wait, let me start again." He took a breath. "I usually end up the last to be chosen in gym for teams and stuff, and I thought you and Matt got along so I wouldn't want to get in the way of that. That's what I meant." _Phew. I managed to arrange the raging mess in my head into something coherent! Why doesn't real life have achievement trophies?_

"Oh." Colette looked down. "I… we do, but when he put me on the spot like that… I don't really, I mean, I'm not very good at social situations. I know that we haven't talked before, but because of Percy I kind of feel like I know you a little? Sorry, that probably sounds strange…" Ajay stared at her, once again overwhelmed with that feeling of kindredness towards this shy, awkward princess. "Look, a table just freed up. You like Battle Chess, right? Would you play a game of regular chess with me?"

And now, for the first time since he'd landed on Corona's shores, Ajay really smiled too. "Sure. Best two out of three?"

* * *

-O-

"Oh, zhere, zhere," Clara said, once again giving Matt a few comforting pats. "It happens in every courtship. She vill come around." Scanning the vicinity for fun things to distract him with, the vampiress pulled her despondent companion to a wide glen set up with a range of sports activities. "Come, let us observe zer people throwink horseshoes!"

They plopped down on the grass along with the other spectators. It was quite the odd game, but nevertheless she cheered when, she assumed, they scored points. Mostly she went by what the crowd was doing.

A few minutes down the line, she reached over and patted Matthew's knee. "Do not fret so much, you vill get wrinkles on zhat pretty face. Zhen how vill you scam people?"

Matt huffed a laugh, sitting up straight. "Colette knows I didn't mean to pressure her, right?"

"If zhat is so, vy did you treat it as if it vere a done deal?" Clara said, trying to be gentle. The sad truth about men was that they often didn't see the line they were crossing.

Matt scowled. "I thought she would say yes! I mean, she seemed friendly enough before." Lower, he muttered to himself, "Should I have dialled up the charm?"

"Ah," Clara said, barely holding in laughter. "Zhose are zer musinks of a man who is not used to rejection. Tell me, Matthew, how many girls have turned down your charms?"

He gave it some thought. "None that I really wanted to get."

Fast as a viper, her hand smacked him upside the head. "A bit of personal advice — girls do not like it vhen you speak about zhem as if zhey are trophies you can 'get'. But I understand your meanink. Vhat you must understand is zhat if you vish to court Colette, it vill be unlike any other girl you have flirted vit in the past. For starters, zer girl is terribly shy; a gentle approach is needed vit her kind. Secondly, she can tell vhen you lie." Here she could no longer contain her smirk. "Are you sure you vud like to pursue her?"

He looked at her, and Clara saw the fire burning in his eyes, the wheels spinning in his head. She knew that look. By announcing Colette as a challenge, it only made him want her more.

"I vill varn you," she continued, growing more serious, "zhat Percy cares for zhis girl, deeply so. If he learns zhat she is but a conqvest to you, he vill not be happy."

That sobered his expression. The light of challenge dimmed in his gaze. "Maybe you're right." Reaching into his golden jacket, Matt pulled out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. "I should back off." A whiff of white smoke drifted up towards the clouds.

"I did not say zhat you should," Clara said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Only zhat she should be more than a conqvest. In truth I am most curious to see how you vill voo her."

The corner of his mouth pulled up in a smile. "I'm so glad my troubles amuse you."

Clara laughed. "Vell, it has been so long since I have vitnessed young love. Can you blame me?"

"Please. You expect me to believe you haven't spun the head of any young impressionable teenagers in the last… Er, how old are you again?"

Clara gasped in mock offence. "Matthew! You cannot simply ask a voman her age! Vere you raised in a barn?" She crossed her arms as he chuckled. "If you _must _know, I am in my mid-to-late two hundreds."

Matt bowed, hand on his heart. "Forgive me my indiscretion, dear lady. You don't look a day over one hundred."

Clara swatted at his arm. "Flatterer. And to set zer record straight, I have not been vit a human since I myself vas vun."

Matt's forehead wrinkled. "Really? For over two hundred years?"

"Ah, how should I explain zhis delicately…" Clara steepled her fingers, thinking over the phrasing. "Vampires are… vell, zhey are a tad racist, dahlink. Even in modern times, vile some of us do try to zhink progressively, zhere are stigmas vitch I am afraid vill never truly go avay. You see, to a vampire… humans are cattle. Oh you may of course grow very fond of zhem and such, but to… form a romantic relationship vit one… Let us say it is looked down upon."

Matt seemed truly surprised by this. "But cows aren't sentient."

"If zhey vere, vud you lay vit one?"

"Well… no, but… some people would."

"As vud some vampires. Dhampirs, children of such unions, do exist. Zhey are looked upon zer same vay you vud look at a child of a human and a cow."

Ash fell from Matt's cigarette as he kept staring. "Wow. I guess I hadn't thought of it that way."

Clara waived dismissively. "It is qvite understandable, dahlink. Zer media keeps feeding you movies of such romances. Ve are not zhere yet, though vampires have come a long vay ever since zer Black Ribbon movement picked up speed in zer nineteen seventies." She tapped the brooch pinned on her jeans. The Black Ribboner's motto, _Living Not in Vein_, stood out in elegant white cursive against the black metal polish.

Matt took another drag of his cigarette. "So… did you ever love a human? Back when you were one?"

"Oh, yes." Clara's face fell, lost in the bittersweet memories. "Her name vas Laura. Sweet and innocent, much like your Colette. Ha, my father certainly did not approve of zer match. I alvays hated zer man."

"I thought you got along with your dad?"

She blinked at him, momentarily confused. "Oh, you must be thinkink of Strahd, my vampire father. No, dahlink, I meant my human family. Vunce my relationship vit Laura vas discovered, zhey accused me of corrupting her vit my vild vays. Sneakink out of our estate for a pint and a game of cards vas considered qvite zer pearl-clencher in zhose days. So my aristocratic family decided to be rid of me and sold me to zer local vampire lord, Strahd von Leichenberg. Strahd of Corpse Mountain. Of course, zheir little offerink did not go accordink to plan." Clara laughed fondly. "Strahd vas ancient, even two hundred years ago. He yearned for a child. I vas only sixteen at zer time, so he gave me a choice — either return to my family, or stay vit him and embrace zer night." She gave him a fangy grin. "It vas not a hard choice."

Matt returned the smile. "He sounds pretty cool."

"Oh, I love zer man to bits, dahlink, but he simply refuses to move on vit zer times! Give him drippy black candles and sqveaky doors! He even vears _a cape_. Finally I had enough vun day vhen he scolded me for cleanink zer cobvebs in zer castle. Zhey vere tradition, he said. Ha! I packed my bags and moved out zer same veek. I still see him regularly, of course, but have had no success in temptink him into zer tventy-first century."

Smiling, Matt shook the ash off his cigarette and took another drag. "So you're a noble, huh? I should look you up in the Peerage when we get back."

Clara chuckled. "You von't find me zhere. I chose a new name vhen I became Strahd's daughter. I left my humanity behind."

"Wait, Clara isn't your real name? Then what is it?"

"Oh dahlink, a girl does not simply give avay such sensitive information to just anybody," she said playfully. Suddenly, the sound of rolling dice reached her ears, accompanied by a despairing wail. "Oh, I know vhat vill cheer you up!" Clara sprang to her feet, pulling him along. "Zhey have a gambink table over zhere! I admit it has been a good vile since I played dice, but I believe I still remember zer basics!"

* * *

-O-

Juliet walked a few paces behind Mei. Six people on this little road trip, and she had to be stuck with 'Barbarian Barbie'. Yeah she'd promised Percy to show her around, but the deal was one afternoon! One! And it was sooo much worse being alone with her.

In general, Mei just pretended that Juliet wasn't there. She walked between the booths, stopped to look at something, then carried on, brushing off the occasional conversation starters Juliet attempted.

"So where would you like to go?" she'd asked about twenty minutes in. "Maybe we can have a look at that stage play?"

Mei rolled her eyes. "No thanks. If I wanted to watch badly acted dramas, I'd turn on the CW."

Juliet tried not to feel personally attacked by this. "Hey, not all their shows are bad."

Mei huffed derisively. "Whatever, Janet."

"Er, it's Juliet, actually."

"Sure."

_Deep breath, Juliet. She's Percy's friend. You promised._ "Okay, no plays. Look, they have a martial arts contest! Maybe you'd be more into that?"

There was a sort of parchment poster nailed to a wall, announcing an 'exotic, one of a kind weapon' as a reward for winning. It had an illustration on the bottom of some sort of staff with a blade on one end.

Mei looked at it for a moment, then her eyes narrowed and she ripped it off the wall. "Exotic, one of a kind weapon? That's a guandao! Every foot soldier in Ordos can wield one."

"Well, we are in the middle ages," Juliet said, taking a peek over her shoulder. "Maybe it's a more modern invention? I've never seen one of these before."

Mei shot her an annoyed look. "The guandao was invented in the third century AD. Don't open your mouth if you don't know what you're talking about, Joanna."

Restraining herself—_somehow_—from snapping, Juliet said, "It was used on a different continent, though. People in medieval Europe didn't have the internet; the only option they'd have to see that weapon is if they were involved in a land war with Asia. And it's Juliet."

"Whatever."

Mei threw the poster away and continued down the street, ignoring her. In an unusual act of spite, Juliet returned the gesture, browsing on her own and letting her anger simmer down. Miraculously, Mei was never more than a few booths away, no matter what Juliet did.

About halfway down the main street, the clang of metal against metal and a hot breeze made her stop on her tracks, and an idea started to form in her head. It wasn't unreasonable, Juliet thought as the smouldering fire of a smithy caught her eye, that they might run into trouble. She went inside, digging into her pockets for the money Matt distributed this morning, and went out twenty minutes later carrying a big leather-bound package. Mei was nowhere in sight—good—so Juliet picked herself a nice tree near the archery range and sat under its thick shadow, unfurling the package. The scent of roasted beef wafted through the air, and a tiny pang of regret momentarily prickled at the back of her mind, but she was quick to brush it off.

Rubbing her palms together just to get that spark between her fingers and the faint odour of ozone in the air, Juliet took stock of her purchases: a jar of glue, a brush, a pair of sturdy leather gloves and about half a dozen small square sheets of metal. She ran her hand over the bristles of the brush, then reached for the jar of glue and opened it with little effort.

"And they say women can't open jars."

Juliet scowled as Mei slid down the tree trunk on her left, screwing the lid shut. Annoyingly, she was almost halfway through some sort of bread roll, which smelled of beef, onions and spices. Juliet tried not to inhale too deeply.

"Can you believe plastic bags haven't been invented yet? I had to carry everything in my hands." She held up a ripe, red apple in her free hand, then nodded towards Juliet's things. "So what's this?"

"Just things I need," Juliet said through gritted teeth.

"For what, another junk shop?"

_Percy owes me big time for this_, Juliet thought. "No, actually. It's for a project." She slipped on one of the cured leather gloves, then extended her other hand, willing the metal pieces to float up into the air. She manoeuvred them in a rough idea of what the final product would be, forming a sort of metal gauntlet. "I'm a technomancer," she explained, adjusting one of the metal pieces on the right ever so slightly. "Metal and electricity, those are my specialities. I've kind of been thinking of constructing a sort of electric gauntlet. The main problem with a regular one is that metal is a conductor, meaning if I electrified the whole thing I'd burn my own arm off. So I need a good insulator between the metal and my own skin, which can't take higher voltages. Some cushioning would be a good idea too; I don't want to break my fists. But, in theory, if I do this right, I'll have a sort of punching taser." She grinned, rotating her gloved hand so Mei could see it from all angles.

Mei took another bite of her apple. "Can you punch?"

In response, Juliet lifted her sleeve and flexed a bulging bicep. "Junior welterweight champion, two years in a row." Returning to her work, she started moving the pieces around in different configurations, trying to see what would work best. "It's rough, I know. I need to do some math and measure out how to blend the pieces together to allow protection while not being too close to minimize the concentration of electricity."

Mei's piercing dark eyes bore into her. "You think we might get attacked."

Juliet shrugged. "It's a possibility. Matt can wag that tongue all he wants, but he's never so much as drawn a sword before. Colette and Ajay don't look super battle ready either, so that leaves Clara as our only line of defence, and no offence to her, but she doesn't look terribly experienced. She might be a vampire, but out in the sunlight and without plasma fruits… she could get overrun."

Mei was quiet for a moment. "You're very considerate of others." Juliet didn't reply. Mei's eyes once again scanned the gauntlet materials. "Got any money left?"

"Coming after my lunch money so soon?" With a dry laugh, Juliet tossed her a few coppers. "Knock yourself out."

Mei looked at the coins, then shrugged and pocketed them. "Money is money." Juliet got to work trying to do some mental math in her head, when Mei made a loud, disgusted sound. "Ew, this thing has onions. Bleh, throw it away!" And without any warning, the girl shoved what remained of her roll in Juliet's lap.

"I'm not your servant!" Juliet snapped, fuming that her calculations were thrown off course. Then she looked at the food and a light flickered on in her head. "You… ate half of this without realising it had onions in it?"

Mei shrugged, already nibbling at the apple. "I thought it tasted iffy."

Juliet kept staring at the roll. She turned the food over once, then took a bite. It was delicious.

The girls ate in silence for a while, watching the archery competition. "You never lost sight of me when we were at the booths," Juliet said after a while.

Mei was quiet for a moment. "We must browse at the same pace."

"We must," Juliet conceded. Another silence. "What did you say to Clara yesterday? When she freaked out?"

Mei chucked the apple core at the targets. "I don't remember."

"Yeah? Because she sure does. Whatever it was, it really did calm her."

"Wait, now I remember. I think I said to her 'Stop poking your nose where it doesn't belong'," Mei said icily.

"And she hugged you for it?"

Mei's whole expression darkened. "Drop it, Jezebel. Now."

Juliet held up her hands. "Okay, okay. Fine. And it's Juliet."

"Whatever."

Juliet finished the roll and resumed her work on the glove. It did seem odd, how Clara warmed up to Mei after that one conversation. Percy kept insisting there was more to her than the bad rep, and she'd literally assaulted him on the docks! And yet… some of it didn't add up.

Being Juliet Rodriguez was not easy, and she had seen her fair share of mean girls. There was this underlying… maliciousness to their comments, a twisted sort of enjoyment when they tormented her. Taunts piled up, one after the other, grounding you into the dirt, stripping you of all self-esteem, and if they got you alone, if they felt more powerful than you, that's when they went for the throat. If they outnumbered you, that translated into literal violence. There had been attempts on Juliet, more than one, but she could handle herself okay in most cases. The thing was, mean girls revelled in their power, and they didn't skip on the opportunity to put you down.

None of that happened with Mei. She didn't pile on, she didn't laugh or enjoy it when things inevitably went sour. She delivered her comebacks with a dry, almost bored tone that didn't have that edge of cruelty. And it didn't feel like lashing out, either; Mei never looked angry when things blew up. Just kind of… resigned. Juliet thought back to the fights she'd seen Mei get into. It seemed like she was the one escalating all the time… but now that Juliet thought about it, she never seemed to _start _any of them.

Was that the thing Percy had seen in her? Juliet didn't even know they were friends, let alone close enough for a birthday invite. Come to think of it, she'd never seen them around the school together. Were they meeting in secret? _Were they dating?!_

The thoughts burned a hole in her brain, until Juliet just couldn't help herself anymore. "What is the deal with you and Percy?" she blurted out.

Mei shrugged, nonchalant. "He annoys me. I tolerate him."

"And you're not… involved?" Juliet tried to sound as casual as possible, but her fingers fidgeted nervously with a piece of metal.

Once again Mei's eyes pierced her to the core. "You're asking the mean barbarian chick if you can date him?"

"Heh." Juliet turned the metal in her hand over a few times. "Of course not. I'm not an idiot."

"Meaning…?"

"Meaning I'm not stupid. He's a prince, and I'm a mechanic." Doing her best to keep smiling, Juliet added bitterly to herself, _If he knew the truth about me, he'd never even look at me that way_. "I'm just asking as his friend."

"... Aha." Mei leaned back against the tree, fingers laced behind her head. She closed her eyes and said, as if more to herself, "You'd be good for him."

Juliet froze. Slowly, she turned to face Mei, her heart fluttering in her chest even though she knew it shouldn't. "You think so?"

Mei made an affirmative hum. "Only makes sense. You have a lot in common. He could do well with someone like you, someone who sees the danger while he dances through life." Her eyes slowly opened, gazing unseeingly at the blue sky above. "You're pretty, he's single, there's no reason for him to say no." She threw a look at the supplies. "You done over there?"

Shaking herself from the shock, Juliet held up her gloved fist, making a few quick jabs. Blue sparks crackled along the metal plates, and the air filled with the sharp scent of ozone. "One of 'em's kind of done, I think. Might need some more tweaking, but I'm pretty happy with it."

"Good." Mei stood. "Then grab the rest. We have a martial arts competition to get to." Juliet stared at her, mouth agape. "Did I stutter?"

"Er, no, it's just..." She started gathering her things. "Didn't know you wanted to enter."

Mei flipped her long black hair over her shoulder. "The prize is a decent weapon. We might need it if things go south."

Juliet tied the leather package together and used the string to fashion a backpack. "We?" she asked with a slight smile.

Mei's face froze. "Slip of the tongue."

"Of course," Juliet agreed.

Mei glared at her. "Whatever, Jackie. Keep up."

* * *

-O-

Matt grimaced at his drink. He could have sworn the lady said it was beer, but it tasted suspiciously like engine grease.

Across the table, Clara was shuffling coins with the same ease an experienced gambler shuffles a deck of cards. Little glints of gold flickered in the light before being neatly arranged in her columns, which were starting to draw a few eyes. Usually Matt wouldn't be flaunting this much coin, Clara had very publicly won the caber toss earlier, and he could tell most of the onlookers didn't have enough greed to forget that.

"So all vampires are like that?" He took another swing of the dodgy drink and instantly made a face. "That's one thing I didn't know from the media."

"Oh yes," Clara said, fingers darting between his purse and the coins. "It is not a very romantic trait, yes? And it can be a veakness, vitch is vy ve don't broadcast it. It is not zer most dignifying of defeats, beink foiled by a bunch of lentils."

Matt huffed a laugh. "Does it have to be lentils?"

"Could be anything, dahlink. Long as there's a lot of it. Every vampire is OCD to an extent, though some more so zhan others. Strahd could maybe ignore zer lentils, but if you throw a fistful of coins or something bigger, he von't be able to resist the urge to stop and count them. Some—zer ones villing to change—have channelled zhis obsession to other sources. I, for example, am addicted to social media. Luckily for me, zhere is alvays some activity on Tvitter or Instagram, some comment or like zhat can fill my need. Strahd… vell, he vud never admit it, but he channelled it into miniature trains. Ve have a whole room in Nachtnebel Castle filled vit his tracks, and may your god of choice help you if you ever disturb it." She laughed, bringing up a copper coin to the light and examining the spot of green it had on one end. "Tsk tsk. How poorly zhey treat zheir coins! I vud never let zhis happen to a piece in my collection!"

"You collect coins?" Matt asked, amused.

Clara gave him a fangy grin. "Social media did not alvays exist, dahlink. I had to find somethink else back in zer old days. It calms me so." She polished the coin and whipped out her phone to take a picture.

There were a few people in the open air establishment, but none gave them so much as a second look. Matt took another swig of the foul drink.

"If you dislike it, dahlink, vy do you keep drinkink?" Clara asked.

"Because I paid money for it," Matt replied with an easy smile.

"Aah." Clara's sorting slowed as she threw him a shrewd look over the rim of her pink glasses. "Vhen you grow up with nothink, you cannot throw avay anythink, even if you do not like it?"

"Something like that." Matt watched the flow of people as they walked by their table. "You know, I'm kind of disappointed. No one is fawning in awe of your phone or asked us if we're gods yet. Look at that, you're taking selfies, and no one even cares!"

Clara adjusted part of her hair and took another picture. "If it makes you feel better, people in our time vill care vunce I post zhem." She gestured for him to come closer, but he only shook his head. "Come on, don't you vant to be on my Instagram?"

"No thank you. I'm not photogenic."

Clara waved dismissively. "Really, Matthew, must you lie? Vhat is zer real reason?"

Matt considered his options for a moment, then decided it was safest to fess up. "The more pictures of me there are out there, the higher the risk someone might recognise me."

Clara looked at him. "Somevun like the police?"

"Or others," Matt said evasively. She didn't need to know the personal details of everyone he'd ever swindled, and even if she did he didn't remember them all. "I'm gonna get another beer." He stood, taking the mug with him, then froze, staring at his companion. "Clara?"

Her eyes were still glued to the phone as she posed with a gold coin. "Hm?"

"Clara… you're cracking."

She turned her phone hand around to see that a thin crack had appeared along the back of it. Wisps of smoke started curling upwards from the fissure. Clara's eyes, for the first time full of fear, turned to Matt. "My vampiric sunscreen…. It's..."

Matt didn't wait for her to finish. He swept the coins back into the purse, then grabbed Clara by the arm and pulled her into the crowd, searching for shelter. A few booths down the road some lady was selling sheets; Matt threw a few gold coins at her and grabbed a blue one, wrapping it around Clara as they ran.

It was a warm spring day. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, damn it, and no obvious place to hide. With little choice, Matt pulled Clara into the darkest alley he could find, where she collapsed near the wall, gasping for breath.

"Have you ever been outside when it ran out?" he asked, adding his jacket to her covers.

"Not often, but vunce or tvice."

"And? What did you do then?"

Clara let out a weak laugh. "Percy took me into the sewers. No sun underground."

Matt cursed. "Sewers haven't been invented yet! What else can we do?" He drew the sheet closer around her. "Will this be enough?"

"It vill slow it… but not for long." Clara's voice was weak, raspy. "I vill burn soon."

"There's got to be something!" Matt insisted. "Something that will help!"

Clara smiled. "Hold me. Zhat vill help."

He stared at her for a moment, feeling powerless. Then he sat on the ground and pulled her against him, shielding her as best he could from the light.

"It vill be... all right," Clara said as more and more smoke wafted up towards the sky. "A vampire… cannot truly die. I vill become ash, and vhen the night falls, you can revive me by mixink blood vit zer remains." She looked up at him, face cracked like porcelain, and took off her pink glasses. "Make sure… zhat it is not human blood." Her eyes were startlingly red. "Please." Clara pressed the glasses to his hand.

Matt managed a nod. "Yeah. I promise. I'll find an animal or something like that."

"Good." She leaned against him. "It does not have to be all of zer ashes. A fistful vill do."

"Okay." He tightened his arms around her, dreading what would come.

"Maria..." Clara muttered into his chest. Matt tilted his head to get a good look at her, and she smiled at him. "Zhat is my human name. Maria Renard."

Then in a single instant, fire flared in the cracks of her skin, and Matt was left alone in the alley, holding a sheet full of ashes.

* * *

-O-

Colette took a hesitant step forward as Ajay eyed the animals critically, his hands buried in the pockets of his blue jacket.

"You know it's fake, right?" he said as she held up her open palms to the horse's mouth.

Colette chuckled as it leaned in toward the feed she held. "Of course I know."

"Then why did we waste our money on this pathetic scam?" His critical gaze swept over the other cages.

There was a 'camel' that was just a fat llama with a fake hump, a small monkey with pigeon wings glued to its back, and a 'hippocampi' that was obviously a goat with its legs in a bag and half submerged into a murky water tank, just to name a few. The 'unicorn' Colette was feeding was an ordinary horse with a horn glued to its forehead.

"Because they are real animals," she said, caressing its head. "It's not their fault they have to pretend to be something else."

He approached the 'unicorn', frowning at it. "The guy up front knows how stupid this is, right? Real unicorns are a lot more slender than a horse. Why didn't he just get a warnicorn and call it a day?"

Colette laughed as the horse nuzzled her neck, looking for more food. "Warnicorns can't sit still all day and let people pet them. They all have nasty tempers and a tendency to disembowel anything in sight — they're bred for war. Uncle Curly says they're very hard to tame."

The horse started sniffing at Ajay's hair, and he swatted it away. "Hey! My dreads are _not _animal feed!"

Colette reached into the pouch of food the man had given them at the entrance and poured some into Ajay's hands, guiding the horse to it. The animal neighed appreciatively and Ajay jumped when its tongue brushed against his skin.

She chuckled. "I think he likes you."

"He does. I mean, the food. Because of it. I mean—" He jumped again when the horse took a step closer. "They don't bite, do they?"

"Probably."

"_Probably?!_"

Colette laughed again, refilling his hands. "Most don't, and I don't think this one does."

"You, uh, seem to know a bunch about horses," he said, still nervous.

Smiling, Colette rubbed his arm comfortingly. "Oh, Uncle Curly taught me to ride when I was little, I've been around them all my life. The two of us still spend hours at the stable just grooming the horses and feeding them when I visit, and Dawn and Briar take me on long rides around Ellyon city and Whispering Wood."

"Heh. I'm not very…" Ajay swallowed hard, then hesitantly reached to pat the horse's neck. "I mean, I don't spend a lot of time around animals, usually. Or outside, if I can help it. The outernet is scary."

After petting and feeding all the animals, the two of them left the colourful but stuffy tent and took a deep breath of the fresh country air.

"So, where to next?" Ajay asked, stretching. "We still have some money left, maybe those confectionery stands? My blood sugar could use a boost."

Colette tried to keep in a laugh — Percy had told her that Ajay was a chocolate addict. She opened her mouth to agree, when a glint of pink in the distance caught her eye, and her Seismic Sense leapt in that direction.

"Ajay…" Colette took a few hesitant steps. "Someone… someone needs help."

He came next to her, gazing fruitlessly towards the trees. "Someone? Someone who?"

"I… I don't know. But she's… she can't get down." Colette looked to him, unsure and anxious.

"Uh, alright," Ajay said. "Where is this she?"

Colette caught his arm and pulled him gently towards the woods. It was no trouble at all to locate the tree she was looking for, and up in its branches, a little girl clung to the thick trunk as if trying to blend in with the bark.

Ajay leaned his hand against it, throwing a look up at the girl. "It's her you meant? She stuck?"

"Yes," Colette said, her worried eyes fruitlessly trying to see if the girl was okay. "She's scared, Ajay. I don't know why she's up there, but she can't come down."

"Well…" He backed up a little, eyes sweeping the length of the trunk. "She's kinda high. I'm not what you'd call a good climber."

Worry seeped into Colette's voice. "Oh, me neither! How are we going to get her down?"

Ajay started stroking his chin, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "There is one thing I could try… Uh, might backfire, though. You better take a few steps back."

She complied, watching him take a sturdy pose and extend his hands forward. Water swirled in the grass before him like a shimmering rug. Ajay closed his fingers into fists, then drew them towards himself. The water froze, forming a platform of ice.

Ajay knelt down and knocked on it. "Looks solid enough, I guess." Then his eyes soared up. "Dunno how far I can lift it."

"Have you ever… done this before?" Colette chimed in, still worried.

"Er, not really. But it's just lifting some ice, how hard could it be?" He gingerly stepped onto the sheet of ice and extended one hand again. For a few minutes the only thing that happened was that Ajay scrunched up his face like he was passing a kidney stone. Then the ice wobbled, making him yelp and crouch to keep from falling.

"Be careful!" Colette called from below, her fingers already twisting the ends of her long hair.

Ajay managed to stabilise it and slowly ascended up towards the child. "Come on, I gotcha," he said, extending a hand to her. The girl clung even harder to the tree, inching away. "Listen, kid, this ain't as easy as it looks, so don't make it harder and come over here so I can rescue you!" The girl broke off a bit of branch and chucked it at the prince's head. "Hey! Look here, you little—" Another piece smacked him right in the middle of his forehead. Grumbling, Ajay lowered the ice and hopped off.

Colette stepped towards him. "What's wrong? Why won't she come down?"

"Beats me," Ajay said, looking up at the girl. "I think she just doesn't like me." He rubbed the spot where she'd nailed him. "Maybe you'll have better luck."

"M-me?" Colette eyed the ice platform nervously.

"I'll be able to control it better from below," he reassured her.

Colette looked up at the girl, then down to the platform again. Hesitantly, she walked over to it and sat, gathering her skirts. The ice rose, much more smoothly this time, and as soon as it left the ground, she felt a strange sense of… calm. It took her a second to realise that, for the first time in her life, she wasn't connected to the earth. Thousands of moving shapes, noises in the background, were suddenly silenced, as if she'd left a crowded room for a deserted street. Usually she couldn't even sleep unless she was on the fifth floor above ground, and even on uncle Moe's airship she could feel everyone else walking around through the wood. But here in the air, it was nothing but… serene silence.

Before she had the chance to really enjoy it Ajay had her up to eye level with the girl, and she finally managed to get a good look at her. The child was maybe six or seven, skinny and dirty as if she were lost or homeless. Her hair was long and pale pink, her dress a more bright magenta streaked with black. Two baby blue eyes glared at her, and a third peered suspiciously under a bit of pink fringe in the middle of her forehead. Up close Colette could also spot the tips of horns poking up from beneath the pink tresses. She looked scared, and mistrustful, and hungry.

Instead of reaching for her, Colette climbed on a sturdy-looking branch, waving shyly at the girl. She didn't know what Ajay expected her to do — she wasn't good with kids or strangers in general. "Um, hi. My name is Colette, and I came up here to help you get down? I'm not, um, sure why you didn't want to when my friend came up here? He's not scary, honest." The girl just looked at her, saying nothing. Colette inched a little closer. "If, if you want, we can leave you here? But you'd have to come down at some point… Is there someone we can contact for you? Family? Parents?" The girl's face fell, and she shook her head. "Are you an orphan?" Colette ventured. The girl nodded. "So… you don't have anyone?" The girl opened her mouth to speak, then froze and touched her throat. "You can't speak?" Colette said. A nod. "But you can understand me?" Another nod.

"Everything alright up there?" Ajay shouted from below.

"It's fine! We'll be right down," Colette replied. Turning to the girl, she said more softly, "If you have someone that takes care of you, we can take you there? We have a wagon..." The girl sadly shook her head. "Um, okay… we can buy you lunch?" At that the kid perked up, suddenly alert. "You're hungry, right? How about you come with us and get something to eat, and we can figure out the rest?"

The girl started to say something again, but no sound came out of her mouth. She pointed to the town, then patted her tiny horns.

"You think… because you're a monster?" It hadn't occurred to Colette, but this time period was probably before the Monster Rights Movement. "It'll be okay, look!" She took off her yellow hairband and inched forward a little more, securing it in the girl's hair in a way that effectively hid the horns. Some more impromptu styling, and the pink fringe also hid the red eye. "If you keep that one closed, no one will even notice. See?" Colette gestured to the ice platform still hovering below them. The girl leaned down to see herself in it.

"Ajay?" Colette called down. "Can you make the ice… more reflective?"

"_What?_" was the incredulous reply from the ground. "No! How would I even begin to make ice more reflective?!"

"Oh, right! Sorry!" Colette smiled at the girl and offered her a hand. "No one will notice. I promise."

Hesitant, the child took her hand, and they both slid onto the platform, which gently lowered them to the ground.

"There, was that so hard?" Ajay said at the girl, still looking a little miffed about the tree-based assault from earlier. "You got a name, Pinkie? Parents? Street corner we can drop you off on?"

"Ajay!" Colette admonished. "I don't think she can talk… how about we just call her Pink for now?"

Ajay raised an eyebrow, but the girl seemed happy enough about the name. The three of them went back to town and spent what remained of their money on food. Pink was halfway through her third pork bun, when one of the merchants suddenly shrieked, pointing a finger at them.

"That's her! That's the monster thief that stole my tarts the other day!"

A few curious bystanders turned, and it was clear in seconds that they'd seen Pink here before.

"Hey, it's the brat that robbed half the market last week! GET HER!"

"Hey, whoa!" Ajay tried to say, but the people had already formed an angry mob. He threw up his hand, and a giant wave leapt from the nearby well to form a wall between them and the approaching horde. Ajay made a fist, and the wall turned to ice.

"Will that hold them?" Colette asked, trying to fight the anxiety attack.

"No, but it'll distract them! Run!" Ajay grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

Colette dragged Pink with them, using her Seismic Sense to look for the others. Matt was in a nearby alley, alone. "This way!"

They ran into him just as he was walking down the main street. "Whoa!" His eyes widened as he saw the crowd chasing them. More people had circled around, cutting them off at the other end of the road. Colette instinctively pulled Pink closer, retreating into a narrow side street, and Matt stepped in front of them, his hands up in a placating gesture. "Hello, friends! I can see you're in a rush here, but if someone can stop and explain why you're chasing my friends, I'm sure we can work out a solution that will please everybody!"

"We're chasing them because they're thieves!" shouted a burly man in a worn apron. Approving murmurs passed through the crowd.

Matt reached into his jacket. "I'm sure that whatever they have stolen, we can more than co—" His hand froze. "—nverse like civilised people on how to make it up to you. In fact, if you would like to arrange a meeting in twenty minutes, we will absolutely pay you for whatever your stolen goods were." Another whisper echoed among the gathered people. "In fact," Matt announced, louder, "we'll double it!"

Apron Man's eyes narrowed. "And you have that much coin, do ya boy?"

"He does!" a young man piped up from the crowd. "He made a killing at the dice table, I saw him counting his money!"

"Then what does he need time for, eh?" said a mistrustful woman with a green headscarf. "I can see his purse right there in his hand. And it's bulging!"

Matt tensed. "Good people—"

"He's tryin' to swindle us!" someone yelled from the back. Waves rippled through the sea of people.

"Let's rough 'em up a bit and count the coins later!" Apron Man took a single step forward, when a glinting blade cut through the air, resting at his neck.

"Or," said a cold, quiet voice, "you can count your blessings and be glad my hand isn't feeling twitchy. Back. The fuck. Off."

The man slowly turned his head to look at the angry Asian girl behind him holding a bladed staff.

White-blue sparks crackled to his left as her dark-skinned friend held up a gloved hand to the head of another villager. "Real slow, now," she said as lightning danced across her fingertips. "We wouldn't want one of us to slip."

Colette could feel her heart painfully ram against her chest as Juliet and Mei forced the crowd back, taking a stand between them and the group.

"You've got some explaining to do when this is over, Iron Man," Matt whispered to Juliet, who held her hand extended towards the villagers.

She smirked over her shoulder. "I will after you pay those people for whatever it is you guys stole."

"Uh, yeah, about that..." Matt grinned sheepishly. "We sort of don't have any money." Mei half-turned to glare at him. "I'll explain later, but for now I think it's best if we… make like a tree and leave."

"You're not going anywhere until we get compensated!" Apron Man shouted, his words once again picked up by the mob.

"Where's Clara?" Mei asked, ignoring him.

Something shifted in Matt; once again Colette felt it through the earth more than she saw it. He wasn't lying about the money being gone, but the young man from before also wasn't lying when he said Matt had won big at dice. What happened while they were separated?

"Clara is… indisposed," he said evasively. "But she's going to be fine. We just need to make it out of the city and rendezvous with her."

Mei's glare intensified. "If something happened to her, Parker—"

Suddenly a man launched at her, grasping her weapon. Mei shoved, hard, and the end of the staff collided with the guy's face, breaking his nose with a disgusting crunch. She spun, slamming the heavy black shaft into his back and toppling him to the ground. Another made a grab at Juliet, but she ducked and punched him in the gut, sending his whole body back into the dirt, twitching.

"Time to go." Matt crouched, gesturing for Pink to climb on his back, which she did readily. "We'll meet you outside town!" he shouted to the two girls, who had their hands full trying to repel the mob threatening to engulf them in the narrow alley.

"Then stop wasting time and go!" Mei snapped, delivering another devastating blow to a snarling woman's side.

"We'll hold them off!" Juliet added, flipping an attacker over her shoulder.

Matt's eyes met Colette's, and she knew what he would ask before he'd even opened his mouth. "This way!" Adrenaline thumped in her ears as she led them at a run through the back streets and towards the wagons. As they rounded another corner and got back onto the main road, a chunk of the rear crowd took notice and gave chase. Colette reached out with her sense. "Ajay! Those barrels there!" she shouted, pointing at a few casks by an open air pub.

"I got it!" He lifted one hand, face screwed up in determination, but nothing happened. "I don't got it!" Ajay shook his hand like it was a busted TV remote. "Too heavy! Must be all that water magic in one day; I'm not used to using it so much!"

Without wasting time, Matt circled around and gave them a strong kick. The casks rolled down the street, mowing down a few of the pursuers and crashing into a stone wall. Red wine poured out of them, and people abandoned the chase to take advantage of the free booze.

The teens continued their run, soon enough coming up to the wagons and spotting their own.

Ajay clambered in the back, shouting to Colette, "Take the reins!"

"M-me?" she squeaked, pausing before Charming.

"You're the one that can find the safest route, and you're good with horses," Ajay said, helping Matt up.

"You are?" he chimed in, surprised.

Ajay ignored him. "You can do it, Colette!"

Hesitantly, she reached for the reins. A shout echoed behind her, and Colette made a snap decision, vaulting herself into the driver's seat. She gripped the reins in both hands and shook them. "Charming, giddyup!"

The horse obediently took off, guided by her gentle pulls as she extended her senses to see with more than just her eyes. The whole town was abuzz, but most of the attention was still on Mei and Juliet, who had been forced to retreat further into the alley. Colette deftly weaved the wagon down nearly deserted side streets and alleys, speeding past the south town gate while ignoring the yells of the guards posted there. Hugging the town wall, she kept track of the girls as they broke away from the mob and started running.

"Why are we stopping?" Ajay asked as the wagon halted in the wall's shadow. Then he yelped as Mei landed behind him with a heavy thud.

A moment later, Juliet followed over the wall, dropping down next to them. "They're on our tail, go, go, go!"

But the wagon was already moving, leaving only a cloud of dust behind.


	8. Days of Future Past

.

* * *

**CHAPTER 8: Days of Future Past**

* * *

"You don't have to carry me for the whole trip, you know," Luna said near Zephyr's ear. "I can still walk _some _of the way."

He shrugged. "I don't mind." It was kind of nice, actually. Warm. He barely felt her weight, but the warmth was comforting.

"It's okay, Zeph, really. You can put me down for a while."

"Yeah, her legs are gonna atrophy," Percy called out behind him, to Will's muffled snickers.

That was a good point. Zephyr stopped, crouching a little so she had an easier time getting off his back.

"You really should be paying the poor man, Luna," Will quipped as she straightened up the wrinkles in her teal coat. "He's not your personal transport wolf."

"Oh gee, I must have left my wallet in my other skirt," she returned.

"Wolves accept other payment methods," Percy said, clapping Zephyr on the shoulder. "How about you do his laundry for a week?" Everyone's eyes slid down to Zephyr's muddy boots.

"Er… well, I… " Luna mumbled.

"You could sing," Zephyr said simply. The others looked at him, surprised, but he just shrugged. "I like your voice."

Luna smiled brightly. "Say no more!" She led the way as they walked on, humming a lulling melody. "_Bright sunny day don't cost nothing. Light summer breeze don't cost nothing. What do I do with all this money? The only thing I want is you._"

The boys followed, and Zephyr smiled to himself. Her voice was so soothing…

"_Palling around don't cost nothing. Singing a song don't cost nothing. How do I spend all this money? I'd rather just spend time with you_."

_Hisss…_

He stopped, ears perked up to catch the sound again. Luna's singing faded into the background.

_Splash… splash… drip drip drip._

"Zeph?"

Zephyr registered Percy's voice, but didn't respond right away. Another pained hiss reached his ears. Frustratingly, his nose picked up only the scent of moss and wet grass.

"Pain," he said shortly as his friends gathered around him.

"Someone's in pain?" Will prompted, but Percy didn't wait for the answer.

"Where?"

Zephyr followed his ears, walking towards the splashing noises and the occasional whimpers. The others trailed behind, but his attention was focused on his target. Why couldn't he smell anything?

After a few minutes, he started picking up on the faint scent of nettles. He had to keep himself from shuddering; he had fallen into stinging nettles more than once back on the farm. And there was something else now, almost completely drowned out by mud and weeds — the scent of a wet human.

The sounds of water grew louder, until Zephyr spotted a flash of blue between the trees. Sunlight danced upon a vast lake as birds glided across its glass-like surface, occasionally dipping their heads into the water. And there, on the bank, was a young human girl in a rich but ripped dress. Her face and arms were smeared with mud, her blonde hair plaited in a messy braid. Slowly, tentatively, she was scooping up water with her hands, trying to wash her feet, which were covered in angry red blisters.

The others emerged behind Zephyr, rustling the grass. The girl saw them and leapt up with a startled gasp.

"Hey, wait!" Percy called after her, but she turned and ran, disappearing into a nearby cave. Percy sprinted after her, and a beat later, Zephyr followed close behind.

Past the mossy stones, the cave the girl had fled to had a deep, earthly scent. Someone had shifted the rocks and dirt above to make a small hole in the ceiling, which let in just enough light for Zephyr to be able to see every corner.

In the middle of the cave, right under the hole, was a rough wooden bowl, half-full of rain water. To the right, a pile of leaves and grass formed a primitive mattress, where the girl's scent still lingered. Way in the back, a lone wooden spinning wheel stood, a green thread coiled around its spindle, smelling strongly of nettles. Next to it, laid out carefully, was a single long-sleeved green shirt.

While Zephyr's eyes and ears registered the layout of the cave, Percy's attention remained on the girl. She cowered next to her spinning wheel, hiding her hands in the tatty apron at her waist.

"It's okay," he said, taking a small step towards her. "We won't hurt you."

"How… did you get a spinning wheel all the way out here?" Will asked as he and Luna entered behind them, blocking out what little light shone in.

Still, to Zephyr's eyes everything remained clearly visible, and he noticed the blisters on the girl's hands as she stepped between them and the shirt, spreading out her arms. He recognised the protective posture, though the reason she would fight to defend this wooden wheel eluded him.

"Okay," Percy said softly. "We won't touch your things. How about we have a chat outside?"

The girl's eyes swept the group, but her stance remained firm. She shook her head.

Luna leaned in and whispered, "Maybe she's one of those raised-by-animals foundlings?"

"Can't be," Will whispered back. "Someone must have brought her the wheel."

But Percy seemed preoccupied with something else. He looked around, really looked around, and his expression shifted from concerned to shocked as his blue eyes locked with hers. "You're… Princess Elisa."

The result was instantaneous. The girl reached for the first object within reach—the spindle—and started stabbing clumsily at Percy, who grabbed the wooden bowl to use it as a shield.

"Hey, slow down! We're not here to hunt you down!" he tried to say, but she swung the spindle like a club and whacked him on the head.

Zephyr, Luna and Will retreated back to the entrance of the cave as Percy tried to defend from the assault. The wild girl didn't relent, so the group hightailed it out of there, running for the relative safety of the woods.

Winded, the three humans leaned against the trees or sat on the grass, short of breath. Zephyr observed them passively, arms crossed.

"What… was her deal?" Luna asked, panting, as she sat on a fallen log.

"She's making shirts out of nettles," Zephyr said, leaning back against a tree.

"Ah," Will said, still trying to catch his breath. "That explains the wheel. She's making the fibre by hand and spinning it into thread. But why? Surely if she can get a wheel, she can get gloves. Or even that apron—"

"It's part of the curse," Percy said. "The pain is her sacrifice." The others turned to him, surprised at the uncharacteristic bitterness in his voice.

"You recognised her," Zephyr said.

Percy nodded, sighing. "She's the princess of Dalriad."

Will was clearly surprised by the statement, but Luna seemed irritated more than anything. "Will someone finally explain what the hell Dalriad is?" she asked. "I've never heard of that place in my life, but you guys keep mentioning it."

Will and Percy exchanged a look. Zephyr thought that Percy might launch into a story, but instead he nodded to Will, looking dejected.

"Dalriad is a kingdom that doesn't exist in our time," Will said, walking to the middle their little circle. "Its last king, Reginald Waltz, never managed to conceive an heir with his queen, but he made a lot of bastards. When the queen passed, with no other option, he legitimised them all. Twelve boys and one girl."

_Waltz?_ Zephyr's eyes darted to Percy, but he kept looking at the ground.

"The king re-married," Will continued, "and the new queen tried to get rid of the kids. She turned the boys into swans, but the girl managed to get away. In the following years, the princess somehow broke the curse on the youngest brother, who led a group of loyalists west and founded his own kingdom. Oloria."

"Elisa Waltz. Perceval Waltz." Zephyr muttered. "I see."

"But wait," Luna said, "if she broke the curse, why is only Perceval the one that got to be human?"

"Curses," Percy jumped in, "have very stupid breaking conditions, and that's on purpose. Usually it's something either impossible or so specific you'd never pull it off. My grandmother had to win the love of someone who had never loved before to break hers. In Elisa's case, she had to weave twelve shirts from stinging nettles and throw them on her brothers' backs. She was also not supposed to speak during that time, or her words would be like knives to her brothers' hearts. When she was just about to finish the shirts—"

Suddenly, the log Luna was sitting on shook under her. She squeaked, holding on to a small branch as the mossy surface rose, and a muzzle huffed in irritation underneath it. Zephyr tensed, every inch of him preparing to run.

Luna yelped again, clinging for dear life to the horns of the skermoss—a creature that was a cross between a buffalo and a tree—as it pulled up to its full height, pebbles and dirt rolling off its hide. Green moss and grass grew in lumps on its bark-like skin, and it huffed again, beating stone hoofs against the ground, its ears twitching.

Percy leapt to his feet, once again holding the bowl in front of him as if it could offer protection. "Holy shit, a wild skermoss! Luna, don't let go, it'll trample you!"

"Gee thanks for that, Perce!" she shouted, her voice laced with panic and sarcasm. "I was just about to throw myself under it!"

"Luckily for you, it's going to try to trample _us_, first!" Will exclaimed. The skermoss let out a loud, horn-like call and charged.

Zephyr bolted. He could hear the others following close behind, and the thundering of the skermoss' hooves as it gave chase. They ended up at the lake shore again, water lapping at their heels.

"In the lake," Zephyr said, already taking a step further, but Percy grabbed his arm.

"It's still got Luna! We aren't leaving her!"

The skermoss emerged from the woods, galloping towards them like a raging bull, and the three boys leapt out of the way. It crashed into the shallows, braying its deafening call, and turned around to face them again. Luna, absolutely drenched, coughed from its back. The creature's beady eyes bounced between the three teens, its front hoof digging into the mud.

Zephyr watched its every movement carefully, tense and ready to run. His mind wasn't fit for strategy or guile — it responded on instinct. Right now half of him screamed to get away, but the other half refused to leave his friends. The result left him locked in place, waiting for someone to make a move.

"Will," Percy said, "can't you draw her in the mirror?"

"From this distance?" Will's eyes darted up to Luna, then back to the beast. "Risky while she's so close to the skermoss. I might leave bits of her behind."

"We need to get her off it," Percy muttered. "... I have a plan."

Will swore under his breath. "Is there even a modicum of chance it won't end badly?"

"Nope. It's a pretty dumb plan. Get ready." Percy tapped Zephyr's shoulder. "Zeph, if you had to, could you blow this thing away?"

Zephyr gave it a second of thought. The skermoss looked pretty heavy. "Yes. Some trees might get uprooted, though."

"That's okay. Try and keep it as contained as you can." Slowly, Percy started circling the skermoss, his eyes locked with the beast's.

"Why do we ever go along with anything he says?" Will whispered, exasperated, watching the creature turn to keep Percy in sight.

"Because he has a plan, and we don't," Zephyr replied simply.

Will scoffed. "If—_when _this goes south, run. I'll draw them both in the mirror, somehow. Meet back here at sundown."

Zephyr nodded. "It might not go south, though."

Will cracked half a smile. "Let's hope."

Watching his friend's every move, Zephyr began to inhale.

Percy kept circling, slightly hunched, as if he were getting ready for a wrestling match. Then, perhaps unsurprisingly, he leapt forward, wrapping his arms around the skermoss' muzzle. "Luna," he yelled as it tried to shake him, "jump!"

"Jump?" she returned incredulously. "To _where_?"

"JUST DO IT!"

Will swore again, taking off at a run as Luna soared through the air. He tried to aim with the mirror, but she collided right into him at top speed, bringing them both to the ground with an _oomph_. Beyond them, Percy still struggled with the skermoss. It shook its mighty head, sending him flying to the right. He rolled across the grass, and the sharp scent of blood reached Zephyr almost instantly. Red trickling down his forehead, Percy watched with unfocused eyes as the beast advanced, braying at the top of its lungs.

_Thwack!_

A stone collided with the creature's head, and it turned, only to get nailed again, right between the eyes. It took a step back, shaking its enormous head. By the lake, the wild girl picked another stone from the pile gathered in her apron and chucked it, hitting another bullseye. The skermoss turned to her, roaring in pain and anger.

Percy, finally on his feet again, sprinted towards her. "ZEPH, NOW!"

Zephyr blew up his cheeks and started a steady but powerful exhale. The sudden gust of wind confused the animal, making it wobble and distracting it long enough for Percy to reach the girl and tackle her into the grass. His hand reached for Hope and stabbed at the ground, anchoring them as the wind grew ever stronger. Not too far, Will and Luna vanished into the mirror.

Content that his friends were out of the way, Zephyr started putting some actual force into the gale. The water of the lake rippled. Pebbles trembled, then one by one started rolling. Leaves rustled and branches creaked as trees bent under the awesome force of the wind. Stubbornly, the skermoss tried to walk against it, its hooves skidding against the ground.

Zephyr wanted to increase the power, but Percy and the girl might get blown away too. He made a step forward. Then another. Rocks and branches went flying past it, but the stubborn beast would not be budged. Three more steps, and Zephyr had walked past the spot where Percy's sword still kept them grounded. His eyes flashed yellow. With a careful measure of his power, he huffed.

The added force of his breath blew the skermoss away, sending it backwards along with a few trees whose roots did not withstand the pressure. Zephyr kept it up for a moment more to make sure it had been enough, then the gale suddenly ceased.

Deep in the forest, the skermoss stirred, shaking off debris. His ears weren't as reliable as his nose, but Zephyr was pretty sure that it was walking away now. More splashing sounds drew his attention back to where his body was, and he turned to see Percy and the wild girl kneeling near the lake. Carefully she wet the end of her apron, then reached up to wipe away the blood from his forehead. She said no words, but her frown spoke enough.

"Oh hey, I'm fine," Percy said in an attempt to smooth things over. "I heal fast. See?" He pointed to the wound, and she gasped, running her fingers over the reddened spot where his cut used to be. "It's uh… a long story. My dad's a healer, but with me it's just passive self-healing." He took her hands in his, carefully turning them over. "I'm sorry. Wish I could do the same for you."

Zephyr approached, hands in his pockets. It was a little weird, watching Percy talk with his many-times-great aunt. Somehow he expected his nose to pick up on some sort of subtle similarity in their scents, the way it did with Percy's sisters, but the wild girl looked and smelled entirely different. Zephyr felt low-key betrayed by his nose today.

Behind him, Luna and Will emerged from the mirror.

"Sometimes," Will started, irritated, "I wonder if it's my fault since I technically agree to go along with your dumbassery. Then I think, 'No. No, it's all definitely your fault'."

Luna knelt down beside them, grinning from ear to ear. "Wow, that was amazing! It's Elisa, isn't it? What you did out there was crazy cool! You saved us!" In a rush of her typical enthusiasm, Luna wrapped the other girl in a tight hug. Elisa, looking surprised more than anything, gave her a few awkward pats on the back. When Luna pulled away, her green eyes went over the wild girl's hair, her ripped clothes and dirty face. "Oh wow, it's been a while since you were among people huh? How long have you been out here?"

Elisa stared at her but remained mute.

"She can't answer you, Luna," Percy said quietly.

There was a fluttering of wings from above as a beautiful white swan landed on the bank beside them. In its beak it held a woven basket full of peaches, which Elisa carefully retrieved. Then she looked at the teens beside her and turned to the swan, gesturing to her mouth, then pointing at them. The bird nodded, then took to the sky again. Elisa smiled at them, offering up the basket.

"Well," Percy said, reaching for a fruit. "I think that either means she plans to cannibalize us, or we just got invited to stay for dinner." He took a bite, grinning like a fool.

Zephyr took one too, sniffing it suspiciously. He wasn't very big on what his dad called 'rabbit food'.

"A princess can't be expected to host a dinner like this," Luna said, picking up the end of Elisa's matted braid. "Will, if I asked you to make a bath in there, will you promise not to peep?"

He rolled his eyes. "Please. If I wanted to see two blondes in any kind of scenario, it wouldn't be hard to find. The internet exists." Will screwed up his face in concentration for a minute, then held up his mirror. "Whenever you're ready."

Luna offered her hand, and with a moment of hesitation, Elisa took it. Will sucked them into the mirror, then stretched, sitting down next to Percy as he swiped another peach.

"These things are amazing," Percy said in-between bites. "I hope there's more of them for dessert."

"Yeah, about that," Will said as Zephyr joined them on the ground. "We're not staying for dinner."

Percy choked on the peach. Patting his back, Zephyr said, "We do owe her a bit of courtesy. She saved Percy from getting trampled."

"Which is why I provided this little spa day." Will waved the mirror. "But that's as much as we can do. Best we get going before Prince Sunshine gets attached."

Finally Percy managed to clear his throat and croak, "Wait, what? Hold on, we can't just leave her!"

Will facepalmed. "Oh come on! You spent a total of three minutes with her, you can't have gotten attached _already_."

"Will, she fought a two-tonne tree monster to help us," Percy insisted. "We can't just abandon her to her fate!"

"Her fate's already happened," Will countered. "This is the _past_, Percy. You can't change it."

"Is she in some sort of trouble?" Zephyr asked, having lost the thread of the conversation.

His friends glared at each other, each convinced of their own rightness.

"Not… right away," Percy said finally. "But she will be."

"Did you see the shirt in there?" Will stuck his thumb in the direction of the cave. "It's going to be a long time before it happens."

Zephyr's eyes bounced between them, confused.

Percy sighed. "When she completes eleven of the shirts, some nobleman is going to find her and take her away. And when she doesn't prove to be sufficiently grateful for the 'rescue'..." He trailed off.

"He's going to let her burn at the stake for being a witch," Will finished. "Along with the shirts. The only reason Perceval became human is that he hovered a little closer to her than his brothers did as she was being led to the pyre, and she managed to throw the last unfinished shirt on him right before they set everything ablaze. If you've ever seen a portrait of him, the guy has a wing instead of a left arm."

Zephyr's eyes slid to the mirror. That's why only one of the Waltz princes returned…

"Look, Will," Percy started in earnest. "If we just tell her… if we get her to move to a safer place—"

"Then we'll end up pushing her right into that asshole's path," Will finished. He looked away, running a hand through his hair. "We can't change what's already happened, man. Time is linear — whatever you try to do, you've already done it and we know the outcome. If we move her, we would just end up the reason he finds her."

"But she… she's going to die if we do nothing!" Percy protested.

"She'll die either way," Will said calmly. "And besides that, she's years away from completing the shirts."

Percy surged to his feet. "I can't just leave her. I won't."

Will stood too. "You have to. I know you're stubborn, but this time there's nothing you can do."

The calm, detached way he spoke about Elisa just seemed to make Percy's irritation skyrocket. "So we just leave her here to die?"

"We all die eventually." Will sighed, rubbing his temple. "Look, I don't like it either, but it's an inescapable truth. Just when she's about to finish these shirts, Elisa will die. We can't prevent it." Grass rustled as he took a few steps towards the trees. "You're not an idiot, Percy. You know I'm right."

And with that, Will left him there, fists shaking with helplessness.

Sighing, Percy sank back to the ground next to Zephyr, who simply sat there, offering a companionable silence. He knew that his friend had trouble letting things be, and that, despite the clear evidence of the opposite, he still somehow hoped in his heart of hearts that there was something they could do. There wasn't, of course. Zephyr didn't understand all this timey-wimey stuff, but he knew Will could be trusted to know the truth of most things, and he knew that Percy's heart was too soft to accept the sharper points.

"Zeph… " Percy said after a few minutes. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

Zephyr considered the question. "No." His hand rose to rest on Percy's head. "I think you're good."

Percy's shoulders slacked even more. "But I can't change the past, can I."

"No," said Zephyr, giving him a pat. "But you want to try. And that's a very Percy thing to do."

Dejected, his friend picked up a smooth lake stone and turned it in his hand. "So do you think… that there's a way at all?"

"To stop her from dying?" said Zephyr. "No. Like Will said, everyone dies. Is that the only thing that matters?"

Percy turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"The dying. Is that the only thing that matters?"

Percy stared at him blankly. "What else matters as much?"

Zephyr shrugged. "Living."

For a moment, Percy said nothing. He frowned, trying to reach what Zephyr considered to be a very simple conclusion. "You're not talking about living past her death…" he said slowly, "but up to it. You think there's something we can do to help her survive that long?"

One more pat and Zephyr stood, taking with him the wooden bowl. He wandered the lake shore for a short while with Percy in tow, before crouching down next to a lush growth of weeds.

"We call this a Touch-Me-Not," he said, holding up a slender green stem with a yellow-orange bloom. "It has a fancy human name, but I don't know it." He sat cross-legged on the bank, picked up one of the larger stones and began grounding the plant into a sharp-smelling green paste. "Works wonders on nettle rashes."

Percy sat beside him, curiously examining the flower buds. "Whoa. How did you know about this?"

Zephyr shrugged, adding another sprig to his mortar. "When I was a cub, my siblings and I would sometimes wrestle right into them. It's a remedy Mom used to make."

Percy chuckled, bringing the flower up to his nose. His smile was sad, the look in his eyes thoughtful.

* * *

-O-

Sparks rained as Percy gently shoved another branch into the fire. Shadows danced in the trees beyond its warm glow, flickering across Zephyr's face as he slept curled up in a ball. Percy watched the flames, his face impassive. Will and Luna were inside the mirror, but he'd declined this time. He felt too restless to sleep, and the crackling of the fire calmed him. With a slight smile, he threw a look at the seeping Zephyr. He'd stayed outside just to keep Percy company but, though comforting, his presence alone couldn't lighten the knot in his chest.

In the end they didn't stay for dinner, though by the time the girls were done with their bath the sun was already setting. Their camp was only a stone's throw away…

Careful not to make too much noise, Percy stood, slipping away to the lake. Its crystal waters shimmered like diamonds under the moonlight. He stood at the bank, watching the shadowy silhouettes of leaves sway in the light breeze. Bending down, the teen picked up a few smooth stones and started skipping them.

It was all so cosmically unfair! Percy wanted to rebel against time. He wanted to say screw it and try to save her anyway, he wanted to try and at least do _something_. Leaving Elisa behind after what she did for them was against his very nature. But… deep down, he didn't need Will to point out that the past had already happened.

When he ran out of pebbles, Percy sighed, his eyes falling on his own image in the water. Suddenly it was last winter, and he was staring at his reflection in the moat of Andover Academy, sitting on the drawbridge and flinging small chunks of bread instead of stones. He felt a million emotions at once, both guilt and anger and sadness. Then heavy combat boots echoed through the wood, and someone stopped next to him. He could see her cross her arms in the water.

"So. You're still sulking."

"I'm not sulking," he lied, sending another piece of bread at the ducks, who scattered for cover.

"Yes you are." Mei sat down, her legs crossed. "I thought we agreed not to feed them bread."

"Well I ran out of seeds, okay?" he snapped. "It's what I had, and it's what they're getting. They're freaking ducks."

For a long moment, she didn't say anything. "It wasn't the ducks that started the fire, you know."

He didn't reply.

"There's nothing you could have done, Percy."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "That's not… exactly true." Her reflection looked at him, but he couldn't meet her eyes. Tossing another piece of bread down into the water, he said, "Did you actually read the article?"

"I did," Mei said. "Some idiot teenagers broke a window and threw in fireworks. It fell into a pool of something or other and the whole repair shop went up in flames."

"The firework," Percy said, his voice hollow, "was part of the royal distribution. Two days earlier I was at the square, giving out boxes of the stuff. I remember those kids, Mei." He finally looked at her. "They got it from me."

Surprise flickered over her face before it settled on something like sympathy. "It wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was!" He surged to his feet, suddenly unable to stand still. "If it wasn't for me, Juliet's dad would still be alive! Their repair shop would be standing! She wouldn't be calling me with her voice breaking or answering the door with eyes red from crying!"

Everything churned in his chest, a hurricane of emotions so tangled up he didn't know what he was feeling anymore. Only that it hurt.

He turned away, not wanting her to see him like this.

Mei stood. "It wasn't your fault," she said quietly. "It was New Years. If they hadn't gotten it from you, it would have been from elsewhere."

Percy spun. "But they _did _get it from me!"

"Irrelevant," she said, her face calm. "You didn't put that firecracker in their hands and tell them to throw it in the shop. You didn't make them break a window, and you didn't make them flee like cowards."

Biting his lip, he looked away.

Mei took another step closer. "It's okay to feel bad that something like this happened. But it's not okay to blame yourself for things you had no control over. This was going to happen, Percy, whether you were there or not."

"That's easy for you to say," he said bitterly. "You don't have a death on your conscience."

Her hand shot out, grasping the front of his jacket. "Do not lecture me," she said, her voice quiet and full of danger. "Do you think this illusion of power comes without a price? Do you have any idea how many people I've had to watch get hurt? Or worse? Don't you dare, Perceval Fitzherbert, don't you _dare _tell me that their blood is on my hands."

He stumbled back as she shoved him away, too stunned to know what to say. He'd known that being the leader of a gang took its toll on Mei, but she'd never… talked about it in detail.

"You've… seen people get hurt?" Percy managed to ask.

"Only the ones I couldn't save." Now it was her that turned away, watching the water ripple. "The Red Vipers don't allow for mercy, Percy. I can't let a traitor go, and I can't look away when punishment is carried out. I've tried, believe me I have, but if I show too much softness, my grandfather will know. And it's not me he'll hurt to make me stronger."

It took a second for him to grasp her meaning. "Your dad." Percy felt a different kind of sadness grip him as he watched Mei stare out into the distance, her black hair lifted by the breeze. Wordlessly, he sat at the edge again.

A minute later, she sat too, facing the opposite direction. "Do you know why we're friends, Percy?"

He half-smiled. "Because I blackmailed you."

"No," she replied softly. "That's why we interact. But the reason we're friends is that… you don't let life get you down. There's so much misery and guilt and darkness in my life; I don't need more of it. You're annoying, and stupid, and always late… but you're cheerful and sincere. I guess it's just… nice to be around someone like you sometimes. But you've been really beating yourself up over this lately, and it's like watching the sun dim."

Percy didn't know what to say. He couldn't be happy 24/7, it just wasn't feasible. But if he insisted that the firework was his fault, he would effectively be saying that what happened in the Red Vipers was Mei's fault, and he firmly believed that wasn't the case.

"Just to check," he said finally, "it's okay to be sad if it wasn't my fault?"

She gave him a sideways glance. "Yes, but then it's pointless because you're wallowing over something you had nothing to do with."

"So I'm not allowed to be sad at all?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course you're allowed to be sad, I didn't mean it like that. Maybe I don't understand why you feel that way, but your feelings are still valid. Still real."

That made him smile a little. "Aren't you supposed to be coming with pitchforks after things you don't understand?"

Mei gave him one of her rare smiles. "Don't tempt me."

Back by the lake, Percy shook himself from the memory and looked up to the stars. Even if the others didn't get why he felt so shitty about abandoning Elisa… his sadness was still real. So real it was bumming the others out. Zephyr even slept outside for him, in a dark, scary forest, even though he was a huge coward. _Ugh, I'm such an asshat._ Percy kicked a stone, and it rolled into the water. He brought both hands to his face and slapped his cheeks. _Focus, Fitzherbert! You're the sunshine around here. It's your job to make the situation light, it's on you to make jokes and treat this as a road trip rather than a life-and-death horror show. You're the happy go lucky one! So be happy!_

His hands fell to his sides.

_She's already dead. Be happy, damn you._

* * *

-O-

Not too far away, near a quiet creek, another camp fire crackled merrily under a bubbling stew as Juliet told the others about the martial arts contest. Mei and Matt had gone to get more wood, but Colette and Ajay listened as the latter was dicing up carrots into the pot. Charming grazed under the stars, and the little girl they'd rescued was rummaging around the wagon.

"Wow, that sounds like it was quite the spectacle," Colette said, smiling. "I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise that Mei is good at martial arts. I've never seen her train though; she always seems so aloof." Lots of kids walked around in their training gear around the academy, going to and fro the gym for afterschool activities or sports teams, but she'd never once seen Mei sweaty and winded, with a gym bag over her shoulder.

"I think the word you're looking for is scary." Ajay cleared the blade, reaching down for another carrot. "She gives off that 'talk to me and you die' vibe. Not that I'd ever risk finding out if she can deliver." He showed off his toothpick arms. "My muscles have the consistency of mashed potatoes."

Juliet laughed. "No one is born with muscles, Ajay, I was skinny too before I picked up boxing. You just have to train up a bit."

He scowled, stirring the pot. "No offence, Juliet, but I doubt you were ever as skinny as me. I got winded moving a wine barrel today."

"That's not fair," Colette said gently, placing a hand on his arm. "You did more than that; what about the wave you called from the well? Anyone would get winded after a whole day of using their magic."

"You just need stamina." Juliet's bottom lip jutted forward as she gained a thoughtful look. "A few short sets at full power — burpees, high knees, hook-cross. I can make you a workout schedule that you can complete in ten minutes. You do that every morning and — bam! Endurance for days." She grinned as his eyes bugged out in panic.

"Er… hey, you don't need to do that, I mean… I mean, that's okay, being skinny isn't all bad and—"

"Too late!" Juliet wrapped an arm around his shoulders, giving him a friendly shake. "From now on we're workout buddies!"

Colette clapped her hands together. "Workout buddies!"

Ajay did not seem pleased. "... Joy."

With a show of flashing lights and chirpy, bit-crushed music, a familiar tune from their childhood started playing behind them. The teens turned, only to find that the sound was coming from the wagon.

Ajay patted his pockets. "What the..." Pink's head popped up behind a sack of beef jerky. "That little demon spawn stole my phone!"

Juliet couldn't help a chuckle. "You have a Pokemon game on your phone?"

Colette's brow wrinkled with worry. "Oh Pink, you mustn't do that!"

"The girl did steal from half the town," Juliet noted.

Ajay abandoned the soup and launched at the kid. "Give me back my phone, you little troglodyte!" Pink scrambled off the wagon and ran around their camp with Ajay in hot pursuit.

"Yeesh dude, ever heard of a lock screen?" Juliet asked, amused.

"It's annoying!" he shouted back, chasing Pink as she hid behind Colette.

"Come on, Pink," the princess urged, her voice gentle yet nervous, "give Ajay the phone back, it isn't yours." Despite the polite pleas, the monster girl kept dancing just out of reach, circling Colette and shaking with silent laughter. "Pink, it's not nice to take other people's things without—"

Before she could finish, the kid's grabby fingers fished out a small felt bag from her skirt pocket in passing as Ajay made another swipe at her. Colette turned with a gasp, and Pink had to retreat, shaking the bag like a bell and sticking out her tongue. _Oh, how careless of me!_ Colette chastised herself, instinctively reaching to twist the ends of her hair. So much had happened since Matt gave her that bag that she'd put it in her pocket and forgot about it completely!

Pink's mistake, however, was running past Juliet, who swiped the phone right out of her grasp. "Your battery's about to die," the teen noted, flipping between the main screens. "If you're willing to risk it, I can try charging it. Last time I did that the phone got fried, though."

Ajay stopped next to her, gasping for breath. Pink, having realised that her bait was now gone, upturned the bag she'd snatched from Colette. A ring and a silver necklace fell into her open palm.

"Pink," Colette said gently, approaching her in slow, measured steps. "Pink, that ring you're holding is very important to me. Please give it back."

The kid grinned, taking a few steps back and dangling the jewellery above the racing current of the creek.

"Pink," Colette begged. "This is the only gift from my father that I have. Please, please give it back."

The response from the little girl was another mocking tongue. Colette reached forward, and Pink tossed the ring into the creek, shaking with laughter. With a little gasp, Colette ran to the bank and dropped to her knees, hands plunging into the freezing water. The awful realisation that she might lose the ring gripped her stomach and pulled it all the way to the ground. It had been a gift for her eighteenth birthday, and she had worn it every day for months now. If she lost it now because of her own carelessness…

Juliet approached from behind, crouched next to her and turned on the phone torch. Colette kept searching, her fingers burning from the cold, but the more she moved the sand at the bottom, the harder it was to see.

"Here." Ajay placed a hand on her shoulder, the other one extended over the current. A small blob of water rose up, the ring glinting in its centre. Ajay gently pulled Colette's hand out of the creek and lowered it in her palm.

Tears in her eyes, Colette clutched the ring into a fist, cradling it to her heart.

Juliet glared at the monster girl, who finally seemed to realise that her little stunt wasn't funny. "That wasn't cool, Pink."

If she was angry, Ajay was livid. "We save your ass and that's how you repay us? I say we chuck her into the pot!"

Pink started backing away.

"You know what, I agree," Juliet said, laying a comforting hand on Colette's shoulder.

Pink took a few more steps, then started running, colliding with something in the shadows. She fell backwards on the ground, staring with three terrified eyes at the black-clad silhouette of Shan Mei.

"Where do you think you're going, runt?"

Twenty minutes later, the teens were sitting around the fire, waiting for Ajay to proclaim that the soup was done. Pink sulked inside the wagon, tied up like a christmas turkey.

Next to Juliet, Mei's face wore a barely-there scowl listening to the story. "Well, if she's a thief, then she can go hungry. You already fed her earlier."

"Nothing but trouble since we picked her up," Ajay added, stirring with a little too much force.

"Um..." Colette muttered, looking at the ring which was now safely on her finger. "Well, nothing bad happened, right? I got it back in the end..."

Next to her, Matt smiled and gave her a light nudge. "I see you shed no tears over the loss of my gift." Colette instantly flushed, looking up in panic, but he laughed it off. "It's fine, I'll get you a new one."

"Little kids are like that sometimes," Juliet said, getting back on topic. "My cousins can be very destructive little assholes if we don't rein them in."

"Beside the point," Mei cut in. "The kid did something bad. There are consequences."

Juliet nodded in agreement. "She brought this on herself. Pink had plenty of chances to avoid this; you literally pleaded with her, Colette, and she still didn't listen."

"Nothing. But. Trouble," Ajay repeated, pouring out soup into simple clay bowls and passing it around. "I get trying to be funny, but there is such a thing as crossing a line. I never had siblings, I admit, but the second pleading gets involved you're supposed to stop and check yourself."

Colette's eyes wandered to the ground again, shyly accepting a bowl from Matt. Her brother was in his 'terrible twos', and though she loved him dearly, she never could talk him down from a tantrum. Every time she ended up bending to his demands; she didn't have the creativity to distract him like the Fitzherbert siblings, or the heart to put him in time out like her parents.

Then she felt it again, the subtle shift in Mei. A sort of stiffness she could sense through the earth. Colette looked up across the fire pit.

Mei kept staring at the bowl Juliet had just handed her. Suddenly her hand jerked back, bumping into Juliet's elbow, and the whole thing splashed on the ground. "Watch what you're doing!" Mei snapped at a bewildered Juliet. "Ugh, look at this mess." She stood, shaking her hands and sending droplets of soup into the hissing fire. Then she walked over to Colette and held up a hand. "I'll take yours then."

"Wh-what?" Colette stuttered.

Ajay looked like he was about to blow a gasket. He made to stand, but Juliet caught his arm and shook her head.

"I said," Mei repeated, looming over Colette, "give me your food."

"Um, b-but—"

"There's more soup in the pot, Mei," Matt said.

Mei shrugged. "Most of the good stuff is already gone; there's nothing in there but hot water now. Besides, we're rationing." She made a beckoning gesture with her hand. "I don't like repeating myself, Princess. Give it now, or I'll take it."

For a long moment only the crackling of the fire filled the silence. Then, slowly, Colette raised the bowl up, head hanging low.

"That's what I thought." Mei took it, looking down at the girl at her feet. Her brow furrowed in a frown, before she half-turned and said, "You really should do your dad a favour and abdicate. I feel bad for the poor guy, having such a spineless coward for a daughter."

Colette wilted even further.

"That was too far, Mei," Matt said, his face not even bearing a trace of his signature smile.

"Was it?" Mei's eyes slid back down to Colette. "When in your life have you ever shown a spine, Your Highness? When in your life have you stood up for something instead of snivelling in the corner?"

"That's not—"

"I wasn't asking _you_, Parker." Mei's free hand rested at her waist. "Well, _Princess_? Was there a single time in your life daddy didn't coddle you?"

Colette's hands curled into fists, but she didn't look up.

"Heh. Pathetic." Mei started walking back to her seat. "Listen, Wallflower, you might wanna save your family the embarrassment when your dad retires and hand me the keys to your kingdom. France will do great as a province of Ordos; better than under your limp leadership. Saves me the trouble of invading, too."

Tears stung Colette's eyes. It wasn't the first time someone had told her to give up the throne. It wasn't even the fiftieth.

When Aramis was born, there was a lot of publicity around it. It happened in early autumn, right before Colette was due to return to the Academy. She remembered the day so clearly…

Barely sixteen, Colette sat on her bed, scrolling through the comments of the article Dawn had just forwarded, along with a slew of heart emojis. Most of them were the typical congratulations on the new baby, commenting on her parents, one or two political remarks, the usual. But then she found the comments about herself. And the link to the subreddit.

An hour later, having cried her eyes out, Colette hesitantly knocked on the lightwood door to her father's office. There was no answer, so she cracked it open just a tad, and found him behind his desk, nose-deep in a book. Neat piles of paperwork awaited his attention, but judging by the open Amazon package left on top, he just hadn't been able to help himself.

"Papa?"

A golden crown, which almost blended with his tawny hair, glinted in the sunlight as he looked up. "Yes, _chérie_?"

Colette closed the door, crossing her father's office with slow, uncertain steps, skirting around the various plants growing from every nook and cranny that wasn't stuffed to the brim with books. Moving a few volumes out of the chair near his desk, she sat, fidgeting uncomfortably with her phone.

"Is something wrong?" her father asked, marking his spot in the new book and putting it aside.

She didn't know how to answer. "Papa… how would I… who would I need to speak to if I wanted to abdicate?" Her eyes remained glued to her lap. She was so afraid that if she looked up, she would see him angry. Or worse — pleased.

"Well..." he said after a minute, leaning forward over the desk, "that would be me. If you want to remove yourself from the line of succession, you would need to complete a bit of formal paperwork and I would then present it to the court." His voice softened. "What brought this on?"

Colette tried to respond, but her throat tightened painfully and she couldn't find the words.

King Lawrence came around the desk, fashioning himself a chair from the heavy tomes stacked near it, and sat beside her. "Colette, no one will make you rule this kingdom if you don't want to. But you're still sixteen. I have a good decade in me before I even think about relinquishing the crown. Maybe take some time to think about it?"

She forced down the lump in her throat. "But what if something happens to you? What if there's an earthquake or a gas leak or a war, and I have to step up? Papa, I'll run France into the ground." Finally Colette's gaze lifted, and what she found on his face was nothing but surprise. She looked down again, her fingers curling into fists. "You have another child now. Aramis can run the country better than I ever could."

There was a minute of silence. "So," he started, "let me see if I got this right. You think a baby that can barely chew would rule better than you?"

Her shoulders hunched. "Not—not now," she faltered. "But when he's older..."

"I thought we were operating under the premise that a gas leak kills me tomorrow," he said, stroking his short beard. "In that scenario it's either you or the baby, and I'm not liking his chances in any sort of poll." She looked away. "Colette..." He reached for her, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "Why don't you tell me what happened?"

She risked a glance at him. His warm, brown eyes and the look of support on his face almost made her cry. Silently, she gave him her phone.

He took it, slowly scrolling down the comments of the article. "Too delicate a constitution for ruling?" he read aloud, arching a sardonic eyebrow. Usually that would have made her laugh, but under the circumstances it only made her want to fold in on herself. After browsing the horrible subreddit, he put the phone away and turned to face her. "Colette… I don't want to tell you how to feel, but you're not the first person in this family to get their own mob coming at them with pitchforks and torches. Your grandfather was a beast for ten years, and not everyone was very happy when he took the throne, even more so when he married a commoner like Grandmaman Belle. He didn't come up with 'The Beast King' himself. And me, you think everyone rejoiced to have a skinny nerd tell them what to do?"

"It's not just looks, Papa," she countered quietly. "Even in simulations I just fail spectacularly. Gandhi nuked my cities in Civilization. _Gandhi_, Papa!"

His nose wrinkled in distaste. "Ghandi is a… a dirty cheater, Colette. Don't feel bad about it; I've had my own campaign thoroughly trashed by that lying, crying, spying, prying cow derrière." That made her giggle. He smiled, raising his hand to her head in a fatherly caress. "It's not easy, being a ruler. People will try to tear you down, especially people that want to take your place. They'll tell you how _they _think things should be done, they'll tell you that you're not good enough, or smart enough, or strong enough, and if you say 'no' to them they'll grab their pitchforks and come after you. But you can't let other people tell you what you are and aren't capable of. You just have to remember: whatever life throws at you, the only way to face it is to stand your ground."

Back by the flickering campfire, Colette's shoulders slumped. _Stand your ground…_ How easy it was for him to say it. Nothing in the world could make King Lawrence Desrosiers do something that he didn't want to do. But Colette wasn't like that. She bent at the slightest breeze, she gave away the last Sun Swirl, she let Briar choose the music in the car, she let Aramis get away with breaking her things and she let her mom choose her extracurriculars. And she constantly let other people tell her that she isn't good enough.

"No," Colette said, so quietly the sound was almost lost in the crackling of the fire.

Mei stopped. Turned. "What was that?" When no response came, she marched back over to Colette. "I said that I don't like repeating myself. You got something to say to me?"

Anxiety crept up Colette's chest like an invading colony of ants. It made her palms sweat and her heart hammer against her ribcage, but she could feel the ground under her. So she stood. "I said 'no'." The fabric of her skirt rumpled as she clutched it to keep from shaking. "I am not those things you said I am."

"Oh?" Mei looked her up and down. "Is that supposed to be you showing a backbone? You're shaking like a leaf, little girl."

Colette could barely hear over the beating of her own heart. "I'm older than you. And that bowl is mine, so I'll have it back now."

Mei cracked a very slight smile. "Oh yeah? And what will you do if I don't give it to you? Sic your little defence squad on me?"

"I will… I will…" Colette's mind jumped to Aramis. "I will bite you!" She didn't even know why she said that. There was more adrenaline surging through her now than there had been when she'd been chased by a literal mob, and it made her head feel fuzzy.

"You know, somehow I don't beli—" Mei started, but Colette made a sudden swipe for the bowl, and she staggered back, keeping it out of reach. "Well, well. I stand corrected."

"Yes, you do. Now give me the bowl." Though Colette's voice was miraculously steady, the hand she held out trembled.

The others watched, tense. She could feel Ajay's hand slowly rise and the hot liquid in the pot stir.

After a long, tense moment, Mei reached down, took Colette's other hand and secured the bowl in both her palms. Colette was too stunned to speak.

"We aren't in France anymore," Mei said. "People here won't treat you with kid gloves, and you won't always have back-up when it happens, you got that? If someone tries to take away your things, you take them back. If someone walks over you, you tell them to shut their mouth. You're a princess, Colette Desrosiers. Act like one."

* * *

-O-

Juliet smiled to herself as Mei walked back to her and sat down. There was something gratifying about knowing she'd been right. Soon enough the others moved on and started another conversation, all of them taking turns to congratulate Colette on standing up for herself.

Juliet wolfed down half of her dinner, then said, "Ugh, I'm stuffed. Get rid of it." She held up the bowl to Mei without so much as looking at her.

"... What are you doing?" the other girl asked.

Juliet shrugged. "I had a big lunch."

Mei glared in response. _Stubborn too, huh?_ Getting creative, Juliet simply left the food in the grass next to Mei's leg. It took a few minutes, but in the end hunger must have won out, because Mei picked up the bowl and started eating.

Trying to hide a smirk, Juliet muttered, "You're very considerate of others," so quietly only Mei heard it.

Mei scowled. "Whatever, Juliet."


	9. Highway to Hell

.

* * *

**CHAPTER 9: Highway to Hell**

* * *

"Somebody write this down. We need more blankets." Mei struck the flint again, and fire flickered to life in the empty hearth.

"Noted," Matt said, rubbing his hands together. "Next town, guys. I promise."

The first sun rays had barely broken though the clouds, and the group had woken to a very cold morning. While Juliet and Ajay were doing the first of their workouts—to the soundtrack of Juliet's bark-like encouragement—the others had gathered around what remained of their fire, trying to get warm.

"I'm sorry, everyone," Colette muttered, warming her palms on the flames. "I'm the one with the most camping experience. I should have thought of this."

Matt gave her a slight smile. "Hey, it's alright. I'm the one that's actually slept on the streets; you're probably used to having a tent at the very least."

"And you were in charge of supplies, Parker," Mei added. "I blame you."

Colette couldn't help a chuckle. Last night's adrenaline had faded away, but the memory was still fresh in her mind. She was starting to suspect what that shift she sensed in Mei was now, why it felt like she was bracing herself for something when certain situations arose. An excellent poker face and good muscle control couldn't hide everything, not from Colette. But while she was on that subject…

"We should wash the bowls before we pack them back on the wagon," she said, already collecting a few of them. "Matt, would you help me?"

Matt, caught in the middle of trying to light a cigarette, froze. "Huh?"

"She said 'get off your ass and wash the dishes'. There'll be time to poison your lungs later." Mei craned her neck towards the wagon. "I'll check on the kid."

She stood and walked past Juliet and Ajay, who had moved on to some strange endurance exercise where he had to keep a squatting stance, both arms extended forward.

"Come on," Juliet said between her counting, "you gotta do it for at least three minutes."

"Juliet, my legs are about to combust!"

"Do you want buns of steel or not? Keep going! Seventy-two, seventy-three..."

Colette chuckled. Matt shoved the cigarettes back into his pocket and picked up the rest of the bowls, following her to the creek. The two knelt down side by side, dipping them into the clear water.

"Matt," she started over the babbling of the current, "when are we going to meet up with Clara?"

For a moment he tensed, then threw her a sideways glance and smiled. "Cut the preamble, huh? Fair enough." Very carefully, as if it could crumble in his hands at any moment, he reached into his jacket and pulled out his bulging coin purse. "I know you're onto me, Princess. We're not really meeting up with Clara. She's right here."

He opened it, and Colette dropped the bowl she was holding with a horrified gasp. The purse was full of ashes.

"That's… that's why we don't have any money? You threw it away to carry her?"

Matt shrugged, pocketing it. "I can always make more. And I didn't throw away all of it, there's still some in my pockets." He picked up the bowl she dropped, washing away the traces of soup. His expression turned more serious, thoughtful. "Clara's sunscreen expired. She said mixing blood with the ashes will bring her back, but she didn't want… she asked me to make sure it's not human." He looked to her, and his eyes softened. "I'll talk Mei into hunting today. We were all tired yesterday, but now we have nothing to do but wait for the others to get here. She'll be back with us as soon as the sun sets."

Colette just watched him work, still trying to process the fact that Clara was a pile of ash in his jacket. She wasn't close with the vampire, but it still felt surreal.

"As for why I didn't tell the others," Matt continued, "Mei would decapitate me, and I rather like my head where it is, thank you."

Colette chuckled, taking another bowl from the pile. "That's true, I suppose. Mei has a way with fast friendships, apparently. She's a little like Percy that way."

Matt huffed a laugh. "I hadn't thought about it like that, but now that you say it, I can see your point. In two days she's already somehow won over both Clara and Juliet, and yet still looks annoyed at them for bothering her with their friendship. No idea how she does it."

"I think I might know," Colette muttered, looking at her reflection in the water._ You're a princess, Colette Desrosiers. Act like one._

A dull thud echoed behind them, and they turned. Some of the supplies sacks tumbled over the edge of the wagon as Mei jumped down, her weapon in hand.

"Catch!" she shouted, throwing something at the spot where Ajay and Juliet were doing jabs at the air. Juliet, still sweaty and winded from the workout, threw her hand out to catch the gauntlet. "Put it on and get to the wagon!" Mei barked. "Now!"

Juliet and Ajay exchanged a confused look. Mei jogged over to the creek and unceremoniously pulled Colette up and behind her, just as a black, growling silhouette lept from a bush across the water. Mei caught it right in the snout with a vicious swing, and it went down with a yelp.

Clay cracked as Matt jumped, stepping on a bowl. "What the hell—"

"Move, Parker!" Mei grabbed Colette's hand and ran until they reached the wagon, where Juliet was already working on Charming's reins. Pink peered over the edge, her big blue eyes darting back and forth between the creek and the woods.

"Mei, what was that thing?" Juliet asked as the teens gathered near the side.

The black shape at the edge of the water pulled itself up and howled to the sky. From somewhere within the woods, another call answered.

"If I had to guess," Mei said, readying her weapon. "A Hellhound."

The earth beneath them shook as a hunter's horn cut through the air. A chorus of growls steadily rose to a fever pitch as more monstrous black dogs emerged from the tree line, forming a semi-circle around them.

Colette felt a wave of ice creep all the way up her spine. Hooves thundered through the ground, and armoured warriors in horned helmets poured out of the woods, surrounding their little group.

The biggest of them, clad in blood-red armour and a trailing ink-black cloak, came forward. "Surrender yourselves," the horseman said, "and the Prince of Darkness may have mercy."

"Right," Ajay snorted. "Because a guy with that title totally sounds like he's super merciful."

The steed under him neighed, beating a coal-black hoof at the ground. The rider drew his sword. "Give us the child or perish."

Colette's head snapped around to Pink, who was clinging to Ajay's arm. He scowled down at the kid. "I'm not her biggest fan," he said, pushing her behind him, "but if she doesn't wanna go, she's staying right here."

"We have our orders," the rider said. "Take out the men."

The other horsemen at his side drew their bows, releasing two arrows of red energy. The first sank right into Ajay's shoulder, and he collapsed onto Pink. The other came whizzing at Matt, but Juliet managed to grab it right out of the air. They barely had time to smile at each other, when two more caught them both in the chest. They sank to the ground, unconscious.

At the same time, a hellhound lept from the side and clenched the edge of Pink's dress between its teeth, drawing her away. Colette instinctively reached for her, but Mei's hand wrapped tightly around her wrist and jerked her back.

"Your protectors are down," the horned horseman said as another rider pulled the struggling Pink onto his saddle. "The prince wants answers. Come without struggle and you will not be harmed."

Colette felt once again her anxiety and fear bubble up to the surface. They couldn't fight, and they couldn't run, and their friends were all unconscious on the ground, and—

"Fine. Take us to your prince, then." Mei's grip loosened, and her fingers slid down to wrap around Colette's with a light, reassuring squeeze. She half-turned and said quietly, "Whatever happens, stay close to me."

The horseman raised one armour-clad arm, and magic hummed in the air. Another trail of red energy crawled along the grass, forming a circle around them and the wagon. The lines crisscrossed, spread in different directions, forming shapes and symbols Colette didn't recognise. Then the edges of the circle erupted in flames, and she had to close her eyes against the brightness.

* * *

-O-

"Sorry. No outsiders allowed."

Percy took a step back as the guards crossed their spears to block the town gate. "Uh, that's a nice giant ice wall you have there," he said, nodding to the street behind them. "Is that like a tourist thing?"

"No, it's not a tourist thing," the guard on the right growled through gritted teeth.

"We had some visitors in town for the fair yesterday," said the one on the left, who seemed younger and much more friendly. "They robbed half the market, blew up a wine stand and did, well, that." He gestured to the ice wall. It looked like it was blocking the main street; there was a small crowd of people with picks at its base, chipping away at it.

"Yeah," said the right guard, "which is why no one can get into town. Mayor's orders."

Will whistled, impressed. "Drunk Wizards Rain Mayhem At Local Fair. Sounds like a good headline."

Luna elbowed him not-so-discreetly. "What he means is, surely now that it's over you can let a couple tourists in?" She smiled, batting her eyelashes at the younger guard.

"Not happening, girlie," the other said gruffly.

"It's not… entirely impossible," the younger said, smiling at Luna. "You can probably petition for entrance after the clean up is done."

Percy tried to disguise his snort as a cough, but Luna beamed. "Oh, I can help with that!"

His face shifted from amused to worried real quick as she reached for her wand. "Er, Luna—"

"Flaming Waffle Meteor Shower!"

A burst of magic exploded in the sky, and yellow-red spots rained down on the wall of ice, smacking into it with a steaming hiss.

"I did it!" Luna exclaimed happily, but her joy was interrupted by screaming. The flaming waffles continued to fall, some landing on nearby roofs, setting them on fire, while others left black, burning craters on the street itself as people scattered for cover. Luna's smile faded. "Oops..."

The left guard stared slack-jawed at the flickering mini-fires as the other glared at Luna.

Percy slapped on a grin, took her by the shoulders and slowly started inching away. "Oh well, a no's a no, who are we to argue with the guards. Anyway, it was great to meet you, have a nice day, bye!"

He bolted, pulling Luna by the hand. The four teens booked it back into the woods, finally coming to a stop by a small creek.

"They're not chasing us," Zephyr said, as usual entirely and unfairly un-winded, while the others tried to catch their breath.

"When we make it back," Will said, holding his side. "I'm signing up for track."

Percy laughed, wheezing. "Who'd have thought that being in the past entailed this much running."

Luna stared down at her shoes, looking miserable. "The Screw Up Princess strikes again." She kicked a pebble and it skidded into the water.

"They'll get over it." Will waved dismissively, straightening up. "Their own fault for not letting us in. That's sure was some, er, spell though. Your wand can make literally anything, and you make waffles?"

Percy laughed, slinging an arm over his shoulders. "I think the better question is, if you _could_ make literally anything, why would you _not _make waffles?"

Zephyr stepped closer and stood next to Luna. "I like waffles." She gave him a teary smile.

"Not that I don't like them, but you know, if we're gonna be making this long as hell journey, maybe it'd be a good idea to practice." Will screwed up his face in concentration, then showed the others his hand mirror. The reflection revealed a few simple straw dummies, arranged in a circle in some sort of arena, with a big fire extinguisher to the side. "You're glued to that thing anyway, might as well try to learn how it works."

Luna seemed hesitant. "I don't know…"

"Might be useful," Percy chimed in. "And you can't really destroy anything in there, so it'll be okay even if it goes wrong." Luna grasped the wand in both hands, unsure. "Zeph, what do you think?"

Zephyr, whose hand had moved to Luna's shoulder, gave her a gentle squeeze. "I think that you can't use something without figuring out how it works. I had to do breathing exercises when I was a cub to get a feel for my strength."

He smiled at her, and after a moment she smiled too. Then she took a deep breath and said, "Okay. I'm ready."

Will aimed his mirror and sucked her in. "Oh, by the way." He stuck his hand inside, rummaged about a little bit, then pulled out three cell phones. "They're done charging. Dunno what we'd use them for, but here."

Percy took back his phone, unlocking it almost by instinct. After everything that had been going on the last few days, his own wallpaper completely blindsided him. Five days… five days now that he hadn't thought of her.

"Something wrong?" Will came around to peek over his shoulder. "'Oh, come on, you still have her as a wallpaper? You've gotta be kidding me."

Percy suppressed a sigh. "I've been meaning to change it, okay? Just hadn't… gotten around to it."

Will snorted. "Liar."

Zephyr came around too, standing at his other side. "She looks very pretty in this one."

Percy felt his heart turn into a heavy chunk of ice, then slide down all the way to his stomach. She did look pretty. No, not pretty — downright beautiful. Not that she wasn't beautiful with her hijab—she definitely, _absolutely _was—but the rare times she would take it off in front of him felt special somehow, like he was getting a glimpse of something secret, something sacred. The picture he'd taken was in the royal gardens of Agrabah last summer, at sunset. The fading light glinted in the gold threads braided into her long hair—which, even in a high ponytail, still fell to the middle of her back—and gave her brown skin an unearthly glow. It shimmered in the fountain where she was sitting, her hand making lazy circles in the water, her smile soft, warm, affectionate. He could stare at her forever.

"Perce, it's been two months," Will said. "You really need to get over her."

This time the sigh slipped out. "I know." Percy sat at the edge of the water, unable to look away from the picture. "It's just… most breakups happen for a reason, right? Someone cheats, someone does or says something stupid, or forgets an anniversary. I… didn't even do anything wrong."

It still hurt, thinking about it. He thought, he'd really, seriously thought, that she was the one for him. Two whole years they stayed together; he spent the summer at her palace, her parents seemed to like him, she got along with his sisters and took Luna under her wing. He'd even… he felt really stupid about it now, but he'd talked with his dad about popping the question, and he'd dragged his friends into a jewellery store once, just to browse. He loved her, she loved him… that was how that worked, wasn't it?

His friends sat at either side of him, and Zephyr gave him a small pat on the shoulder. "I still think you should have tried asking to get back together."

"Uh, no," Will said flatly. "Do not beg. Never beg a girl to take you back after she's dumped you, it never, ever works. To be honest, I'm surprised that you didn't concoct some harebrained scheme to get her back."

Percy gave him a wan smile to disguise the fact that he absolutely had come up with at least three such schemes, one of which involved asking her to his birthday and was in five stages, plus a few contingencies to convince her to go in the first place. The only reason he scrapped it was that Dawn and Briar talked him out of it when they saw the initial guest list.

"I just thought..." His thumb caressed her face. "I just thought we'd be endgame, you know?"

Next to him, Will sighed. "Look, man, I tried to be supportive, but the truth here is that you're delusional."

Percy threw him a side glance. "Why am I not surprised you don't believe in love."

"Oh, I believe in love. I just think you believe in it a little too much." Will turned to face him fully. "Listen, you've grown up with all these girls, and you've heard all sorts of sappy stories, and to be real with you, I think they've sort of melted your brain. Your parents were highschool sweethearts, and you thought that you'd have the same sort of experience. But it just… doesn't work that way for everyone."

"Your parents met when they were eight," Zephyr pointed out.

Percy huffed a laugh at the dirty look Will threw him. "Yes, but I have two uncles who had to wait until much later in life to find someone. I think you just came on a little strong, and it scared Zade off."

Percy didn't like the sound of that, but it struck a chord of truth. She'd told him that day that she wanted to 'experience all that life had to offer'. She just… didn't want to be tied to him for the rest of her life. Part of him understood that, but he knew that a little piece of his heart would always belong to Scheherazade Al-Badur, the Princess of Agrabah.

"I don't know..." he muttered. "Maybe." He could feel himself slipping back into that abyss of self-pity, back to wanting to call her or at the very least curl up into a ball and brood. Instead he pushed it all down, like he always did, smiled and stood up. "On the plus side, if Luna masters the wand we can have waffles for breakfast tomorrow."

Will made a face. "Bleh, magic food? I'll pass; it always tastes like rubber."

"Waffles kind of taste like rubber already," Zephyr mused.

"... What kind of waffles have you been eating?"

Percy laughed as the three started down the length of the creek, slipping his phone in the pocket of the long blue coat. Despite the smile and the jokes, his fingers remained firmly wrapped around Zade's picture, and even though the forest was beautiful, all he could see was her silhouette, outlined by the setting sun.

* * *

-O-

The first thing that Colette noticed was that there was no sun in the sky. The second was that the sky was red.

A castle of black garnet loomed ominously over them as the riders led them across a sturdy drawbridge. Below, a moat of lava slowly crawled from one side to the other, emitting heat and noxious fumes. Colette covered her mouth with one hand, the other still holding Mei's. She didn't seem unsettled or even surprised at all as the two of them were herded to the big black gates of the castle. Pink and the others had been taken away; Colette kept track of them with her Seismic Sense as the little girl was carried off to one of the towers while the teens got deposited into a dungeon two levels below.

As they were led across the courtyard, Colette couldn't help but appreciate the machicolations up at the towers—which had really cool and intricate corbels—and the massive castle gates decorated with gold and rubies. A blood-red carpet greeted them inside the black castle's walls, and the main rider stopped to exchange a few words with an important-looking man who had just left the spacious room on the left. A little curious, Colette extended her senses further, and an ice-cold chill ran through her body. Figures were gathered there around a table, commenting and pointing at little wooden figures of horses and soldiers, moving them in groups along a large sheet of parchment. Each person had a different silhouette, but the leathery wings, tails and even a few pairs of horns almost sent Colette into shock.

_A demonic war council. _

"Stop shaking," Mei ordered quietly.

"R-right!" Colette squeezed her eyes and tried to force herself to be still, but her treacherous body kept trembling like a leaf in a storm.

Mei threw her a side glance, then cursed under her breath. "Listen." Her hands gently squeezed Colette's shoulders. "Nothing bad is going to happen to you. You're with me. Understand?"

Colette took in a shaky breath and nodded. "Mei, we're—"

"I know where we are. Can you sense the others?"

"Yes. They're down in the dungeons, but everyone is okay."

"Good." Mei's eyes darted to the rider, who was still absorbed in his conversation. "As long as we keep our cool, they'll stay that way. Don't let them see you afraid, and whatever happens, don't let go of me."

Colette managed another jerky nod, and the soldiers nudged them to keep going. The big double doors in the bottom of the hall opened to reveal a spacious throne room, and at its very end, a big black-and-gold throne. A young man sat upon it, his legs crossed in a figure four, arm lazily extended past the armrest and balanced on the hilt of a sword. He had horns, much bigger than Pink's, a tail draped over his knee, and a third eye in the middle of his forehead, glaring at them beneath his dark red fringe. Looking somewhere between bored and annoyed, he gestured for the guards to leave.

Mei walked towards him in confident strides as the doors swung closed behind them. Colette steeled herself, following her example. Her palms were starting to sweat, but Mei didn't loosen her hold.

"Well, well," Mei said once they reached the steps leading up to the throne. "A Lucitor with a katana. Where'd you find that, washed out on Lava Lake Beach?"

Something flickered across his face as his gaze fixed on her. "It was a gift from Emperor Sukō's son, actually." He stood, dragging the blade across the black garnet floor. "You recognise it?"

Mei shrugged. "Seen them around. Usually on corpses."

His tail flicked as he took a few steps closer. The corner of his mouth quirked into a smirk. "We see our fair share of the undead here. You've been to the beach, did you say? A tourist?"

Mei's heart started beating faster as the demon circled them, but her face remained impassive. "They say you never forget your first soulrise." Colette bit the inside of her cheek to keep from jumping when the edge of his cape brushed against her ankle. Mei squeezed her hand gently.

"Indeed." His eyes lingered on Colette as he faced them again. She did her best to not look away. "My having this sword seems to surprise you…?"

"Meifeng," Mei said. "Shan Meifeng. Yes, an eastern sword in the hands of a western demon surprises me. Even if that demon is a prince."

"And an eastern girl in the lands of the western humans surprises me," he returned, sheathing the sword. "Where are you from?"

"The Great Steppes," Mei replied. "My father is a general under the most fierce khan to ever ride across them."

The demons' eyes narrowed, and his lip curled. "Attila."

Mei smirked. "May his name be wreathed with glory."

Though she remained confident and cool, on the inside her heart was racing. Colette kept her eyes on the ground, stopping herself from glancing at her, but there was something reassuring about the fact that even someone as cool as Mei had these rushes of anxiety. She hid it so well Colette would have never been able to tell without her sense.

"And your… lovely companion?"

Colette lifted her eyes and almost jumped. The demon was now standing only inches from her, grinning. She tried not to think about the fact that all his teeth were pointy and sharp.

"M-me?" she stuttered. Mei's hand squeezed hers gently. "Oh, um..." Wheels turned in her head at mad speed. Mei hadn't said a specific name, simply alluded to the Huns and the demon filled in the blanks for her. She hadn't said that she was the daughter of the khan because there was the possibility he might know if that khan had any children. And by revealing the name of the current khan, the demon had given away exactly what time frame they were in. Therefore… "My… my noble uncle is King Charles V of France. My father is Philip de Rouvres, Duke of Burgundy." Colette bowed in a low curtsy.

The demon blinked in surprise. "My, my. A noble lady and a general's daughter. What an… unusual pair." His smile returned. "But where are my manners? My name is Malcolm Lucitor, the Prince of Pandemonium." He bowed with a flourish of his cape. "And what, exactly, has the two of you travelling in a single horse wagon so far from either of your homes?" Malcolm smiled again, but there was danger in his eyes.

"You must not know a lot about the Huns if you think I would tell you that," Mei said casually, examining her nails. "Travelling is not a crime. Especially when it's nowhere near your domain."

"But what _is _a crime is kidnapping a citizen of my domain." Malcolm took to circling them again.

Colette felt very uncomfortable when he once again brushed her with his tail. "We didn't kidnap her..."

"Our entourage found her in the woods," Mei supplied. "And while we're on the subject, I expect them returned in full working condition. We still have a lot of ground to cover, and I'm not in the mood to look for replacements."

"Only two men..." Malcolm mused. "They must be formidable fighters if you took only two to protect you. What do you need the woman for?"

Mei opened her mouth to speak, when suddenly a bright flame erupted from the ground, and a black carriage rose from within its fire. The door burst open, and another demon stepped out into the throne room, grinning widely. He too seemed quite young, dressed in fine black silks, and his hair was a dark pink, with the sharp tips of horns poking through.

He jumped down to the floor, spread his arms and announced, "I have arrived, oh brother o' mine!"

Malcolm closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. "Yes, Sam, I can see that."

"Oooh, you have guests!" The newcomer took Mei's free hand, bowing low. "Samael Lucitor, at your eternal service." He winked, kissing her hand. Then he stood, and his eyes moved to Colette. "And who is this heavenly creature?" He stepped closer, and Colette instinctively squeezed Mei's hand. "You truly are a beautiful flower," the demon said softly, his hand resting gently on her cheek. "It makes me want to… pollinate you."

Mei's fingers wrapped around his wrist and jerked. In one fluid move, she flipped him over her shoulder, and he slammed into the ground, grunting as the air left his lungs. "Touch her again and I'll break every bone in your body," she said coldly.

Samael hissed, his eyes glowing red, but behind them, Malcolm snorted. It transitioned into a hearty laugh that echoed between the tall, black walls of the throne room. Grumpy, Sam pulled himself to his feet to the slow claps of his brother.

"I like you," Malcolm said to Mei. "You've got spunk. I'll tell you what, I was going to damn your souls to eternity of suffering, but since you're so driven, I'll let you get back to your travels… if you do me a small favour."

"Uh, Mal?" Sam smoothed the wrinkles in his fine clothes, his expression still sour. "Don't you want to know about Lucy?"

Malcolm rolled his eyes. "I already know about Lucy. Go polish your horns, or whatever it is you do."

Sam's frame briefly flamed, before he turned with a huff. "Fine! But next time you need to borrow a cape _I'll be all out_!" The big double doors of the throne room slammed behind him.

Mal rubbed his temple again. "Forgive my brother. I'd say he's dramatic, but that would be the understatement of the century."

Mei shrugged. "So long as he keeps his paws to himself." Her hand found Colette's again. "What's this favour you need?"

Malcolm walked back to his throne and sat. "My illustrious father has joined the war on the surface. Of course, the Lucitors and the Butterflies have long been allies, so the second Queen Solaria blew her war horn, he couldn't join her fast enough. He's taken most of our warriors to fight above, and I'm just stuck here with a literal bare-bones regiment and unruly siblings." His fingers drummed on the armrest. "The problem is, Pandemonium isn't the only kingdom in the Underworld. Apparently, the Empire of Dis has decided they also want a piece of the action, and predictably those low unlives have sided with the monsters above. Which makes them..."

"Your enemies," Colette finished quietly. Malcolm gave her a grim nod.

"I hope you're not suggesting we fight Dis for you," Mei said.

Malcolm huffed a laugh. "Even if there were a hundred of you, you still wouldn't defeat a real demon army. I wouldn't be asking for something I didn't think you could actually do." He leaned back in the throne. "There is a wizard that lives in the Wastes. He's a coward and a creep, but his magic is powerful. I need you to go to his castle and bring me his bag of dragon teeth."

Mei made a face. "Ew. Can't you get your teeth collection from elsewhere?"

Malcolm rolled his eyes. "They're enchanted. If planted in the right soil they'll each sprout a skeleton warrior. They never tire, never eat, easy to glue back when they break, and their swords are sharp. If I had an army of them, I could hold out against Dis for as long as I need."

"Fine," Mei said. "How do we find him?"

Malcolm held up his hand. A red flame erupted in his palm, and from it materialised a roll of parchment, which he handed to Mei. Her eyes slid across it, and Colette sensed her whole body going rigid. She glanced at Mei, but the other girl's face gave nothing away.

A second flare of red, and Malcolm handed Colette an hourglass full of black sand. His sharp-toothed grin returned. "I will of course require some… collateral."

* * *

-O-

It was dark in the dungeon. Matt wondered if it was night time already. Ajay snored like a chainsaw on the cot above him, and he could just about make out Juliet's unconscious form in the cell across theirs. He really wished he had a ball to bounce against the wall. Or anything to keep his mind occupied, really.

This was not his first time behind bars, but it was the first time behind demon bars. He'd checked them out when he woke up — the metal was oddly warm to the touch, and the only guard was a fat white worm with a nasty-looking iron poker. Even so, Matt wasn't even half as scared as the last time he'd been thrown in jail. It was a pretty fond memory nowadays, actually.

They'd tried to keep him overnight, then. He'd tried to rob the queen. Not that he knew she was the queen—he wasn't an idiot—she just looked like someone's uppity mom. He got arrested in the afternoon, of course, and spent all day inside that Corona cell, feeling sorry for himself. He wasn't yet eighteen at the time, but his fake ID said he was, and if they could trace him to the millions of scams he'd pulled, the people he'd lied to, swindled and cheated, they'd have enough to put him away for life. Or, what was an even worse possibility, they could find out his real name and tell Mary. Just the thought of it made his stomach squirm with guilt. She was more protective of him than any birth mother could have been; she'd 100% try to get him a lawyer and bankrupt herself to save his sorry hide. What if she did something stupid and sold the house? After all the grief he'd caused her, if this ended up costing her the Garden…

And then, when he felt the very tip of the end of his rope, the guard opened the door and shoved in a kid in a blue hoodie. Matt barely lifted his head, but the guard didn't say anything about an angry middle-aged woman demanding to see him, so they hadn't figured out who he was, yet. That was a small relief. The kid sat on the bench next to him, drawing up one knee under his chin. They both leaned back against the bars of the cell, settling for what they knew would be a long night.

The precinct was quiet and dark. The only light came from the moon outside their window, and they were the only ones in the temporary holding cells. Matt was too busy wallowing to pay much attention to the newbie.

Eventually the kid asked, "So, why're you in here?"

Matt held in a sigh. "Because I got caught. You?"

"Stole a pack of gum."

Matt turned to look at his cellmate and was greeted by a familiar grin. "Dude it's me," the guy said, pulling down his hood.

Something inside Matt snapped. He hauled the kid up by the front of his hoodie and slammed him back against the bars. "What the hell kind of game do you think you're playing?"

"Me?!" was the indignant retort. "I _told_ you not to try anything with my mother. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking she's a random rich lady, not that she's the goddamn _Queen of Oloria! _Just like I thought your name was Flynn!" Matt pressed him harder against the bars.

"Are you serious?! I thought we were making up names!" Matt blinked, taken aback. When he didn't respond, Flynn added, "Oh come on, man. Christopher Paul Bacon? Chris P. Bacon? That's the most obvious fake name I've ever heard. Worse than some of your scams."

A moment of silence stretched between them. Suddenly, Matt saw that naive little fool he'd used for months on end in a whole new light… and everything shifted so hard it gave him vertigo.

"You knew," Matt uttered, and his grip loosened. "All along, you knew."

"Um... yeah." Flynn almost looked… sheepish. "I knew."

Matt's fists unfurled, coming away. He'd thought he'd hit the jackpot with this idiot, some random fifteen-year-old that fell for every single scam, no matter how dumb. Matt ran so many cons on him, so many different ways to lie, rob or otherwise convince him to part with his money, his phone, any other valuables. He'd started to feel a little bad about it lately because, despite his best efforts, the hapless moron started to grow on him. And all this time…

Suppressing a sigh, Matt sank to the ground, back pressed against the bars. A moment later, Flynn sat down beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Look, man… I'm sorry I lied. My real name is Percy. Well, Perceval William Phoebus Cyrus Fitzherbert, if you wanna get technical."

_Goddamn_, Matt thought, _who goes around with this many names?_ "Matt," he said shortly. No idea why. Admitting his real name on the inside of the police station wasn't a smart call, but he was exhausted. They were going to find out anyway. He turned to face Fl—Percy. "Why, then? If you knew I was playing you, why did you let me take all that stuff?"

Percy shrugged. "I thought you could use it."

Matt ran a hand through his hair. He didn't know what to make of that statement. Should he feel offended at the charity? Grateful at the thought? Mad at the lies? Shitty that he wasn't as good of a conman as he thought he was? "What are you even doing here… Percy? How did the police end up arresting the prince?"

He grinned. "Well… you're not the only one I gave a fake name to." Reaching into his sock, Percy took out a small, crooked hook and winked. "I came to bust you out."

Matt's jaw hit the floor. "You..." He watched, dumbstruck, as Percy knelt down next to the lock. "You—you can pick locks?"

"Sure," came the casual response. "You can't?" Matt shook his head, and Percy chuckled. "Soon as we get outta here, I'll teach you. I think I still have my training padlocks somewhere in my room."

Matt stood, craning his head down the corridor to watch for the cops. So far the light at the end of the hall only showed the corner of one of their heads. "You, uh… sure you can do this?" Matt threw a look down at Fly—_Percy_, whose tongue was stuck out in concentration as he blindly worked the lock on the other side of the door.

"Course," he said. "Done it dozens of... times. Aha!" There was a click, and the door slid soundlessly. Matt made to leave, but Percy caught his arm. "No, no, not yet. We have to wait for the signal."

Matt stared at him. "What signal?"

Percy grinned. "You remember me telling you I have two sisters? Well let's just say being a little brother has its perks."

The lights at the end of the hallway flickered, then went out. A dozen colourful beams shone through the window, and a deafening drum riff echoed from outside, transitioning into a loud but steady beat. Then the electric guitar came in, its melody weaving in the air, complemented by the drums. And above it all, a female voice unfurled.

"_Open your eyes and take in everything that you see. Look at all the colours like yellow, blue and green. We can take an airplane and fly across the globe. Look down upon the colours, everyone come on, let's go…_"

In the police office, feet shuffled about as the couple officers on duty left their seats.

Percy grinned and inclined his head. Bewildered, Matt followed him out, pinching on his own arm. There was no way this was real.

"_Love, love, love, la la love_," two female voices mixed above the instruments, echoing within the walls of the station. "_La la love makes the world go 'round…_"

They made it to the corner and peeked into the main office. There were four cops in there, three gathered at the windows and another at the door. Just past them, Matt caught a glimpse of a crowd wielding glowsticks, jumping and cheering, their faces smeared with glow-in-the-dark paint. The squeals intensified as a guitar solo took over.

A few more of the officers advanced towards the door, but Percy tugged on Matt's elbow, and the two of them snuck into the office at a crouch. Ignoring the deafening music, Percy made his way to the evidence drawer and cracked that lock in seconds. Then he said in Matt's ear, "Pick up your stuff and let's go."

Matt stared down into the drawer. Among the assorted mundane items, his trained eye quickly found his wallet (full of stolen money), a watch he'd never seen (but would like to sell), a nice iPhone (not his) and… the pair of luxury wireless earphones he'd scammed out of Flynn. Er, Percy. The ring he'd slipped away from the queen's finger must have been returned by the police.

Percy nudged him to hurry it up, while above it all the two voices sang in harmony.

"_Everyone has a special song deep inside their heart. If you want you could sing with us, it's the perfect place to start…_"

Matt made a snap decision and reached down into the drawer. With a loud hiss, someone started up a fog machine of some sort right outside the door, and thick white mist seeped into the station. Matt whirled around to see the remaining officers, coughing and waving away the smoke, make their way outside. The crowd started clapping in time with the song and joined in at the chorus.

"_Love, love, love, la la love_,_ la la love makes the world go 'round…_"

Percy snatched the fake ID and some papers from a nearby desk, tugged on Matt's sleeve, and the two snuck out through the open door, blending with the concert goers. They cut right through the jumping, pushing bodies and came out the other end, making a run for it across the street and hiding in a shadowy alley between a shoe store and a watch repairer's. Once there, they watched with amusement as the police officers tried to break up the mob of teenagers, who kept screaming and singing along with the pair of girls that played from the back of two pickups parked in a V. On the left a brunette whaled on the drums, bobbing her head, and on the right a blonde launched into another solo on her yellow guitar.

"That's a lot of groupies," Matt noted. "How did you even gather this many?"

Percy laughed, holding his side. "Instagram post. Spreads like wildfire, believe me." He straightened up, unzipping his hoodie. "In return I gotta wear nothing but band merch for a month." The black t-shirt underneath showed a blue stylised logo of an electric guitar over the word _Wish_ written in cursive. "You have to wear it too. I'll bring yours tomorrow."

Matt just kept watching the concert as more and more passerbys joined the crowd and the police tried—fruitlessly—to be heard over the booming amplifier which pulsated with every drum beat of the brunette. Percy had told him he had twin sisters, but he hadn't mentioned they were fraternal. Or that they played music. "You didn't tell me your sisters had a band."

"Eh, they're part of one, anyway. I think half these fangirls showed up to see Erik Haddock, the vocalist. This was a little short-notice, so it's a two-woman show."

Matt looked down at this hand, where he still clutched the earphones. "Percy. Catch."

He tossed the case at the kid, who fumbled with them for a second.

"Wait… are those…?"

"I can't really turn them into spy gear," Matt said. "I was going to pawn them." Percy cracked a small smile. "But you knew that, didn't you."

Percy shrugged. "I may have suspected."

Matt stuck his hands in his pockets, watching the concert's throbbing lightshow. He should have taken the other stuff from the drawer. He should have kept the earbuds. He should have used this kid and walked away like he'd done with so many others. What kind of idiot knows you're a thief but hands you the keys to the safe anyway? Heh, better question, what kind of idiot lets you walk away with his stuff?

It took him a long while to figure out why he'd done it. Matt wasn't a good person. He could pretend to be a good person, if it suited him, but he knew that at his core he was too selfish and self-serving for that. But around Percy he was... a better person. To this day he wasn't entirely sure how exactly it worked; it was just something that tended to happen to people in Percy's orbit.

Footsteps shook him out of the memory, and Matt looked up as light flooded the dungeon steps. He stood when the edge of a familiar yellow skirt appeared down them, followed by black combat boots. As he fumbled out of the cot, Mei marched right over to the guard and handed him a rolled up piece of parchment.

"I want them out," she said. "Now."

The guard scowled at her, but walked to the cells and started banging his iron poker against the bars. Ajay jumped in the top bunk, falling out of it.

"Ow," he muttered as Matt helped him up. The cell door opened.

"Get off the floor, Silver Spoon, and move," Mei said, already heading to the exit.

The guard passed by Juliet's cell and sat back in his chair as she shot them a desperate look.

"Hey, hold it!" Ajay said, going over to her. "He hasn't let Juliet out yet."

The guard gave him a smarmy grin. "Release order is only for the men."

Ajay and Matt exchanged a look. "We're not leaving without her," Matt said.

"Matt—" Colette started gently.

Mei walked right past her and grabbed the front of his shirt. "Then stay in here with her, but don't waste my time."

Matt opened his mouth to say something, but a light hand on his arm made him waver.

"Matt," Colette said, "please, we don't have much time. We'll explain on the way, but right now we have to _go_."

He looked to Juliet, to Ajay, to Mei. Then his eyes lingered on Colette's, and he took a leap of faith. "All right." He gave Mei a stiff nod, and she let him go with a shove.

"And you," Mei threw at Juliet, heading for the stairs. "Stay awake. I want you ready to go when we come back. Got it?"

Juliet gave her a tentative smile. "Got it. Watch yourself out there."

Mei paused on the first step. "Yeah. You too."

When they left the dungeon and crossed the lava moat, Matt grabbed her elbow. "Okay, we're walking. Now are you gonna tell us why we left Juliet behind?"

"You think I wouldn't rather have her here instead of you two?" Mei snapped, glaring at him and Ajay. "Juliet is collateral," she said through gritted teeth, keeping up her angry pace and wrenching out of his grip.

Colette reached into the pocket of her skirt and showed the guys an hourglass filled with black sand. "We're supposed to be back before the sand runs out," she said. "Or Juliet..."

"Or nothing," Mei snapped. "Malcolm said it gives us plenty of time to make it there and back, so move it."

"And Malcolm is?" Ajay asked.

Colette filled them in on the welcome they'd received. Then she handed Matt the map they'd been given by the demon prince, and a chill ran down his back when the read the name under the castle circled in red.

"This wizard," Matt said, watching Mei's long black hair sway behind her as she walked up ahead. "We're actually going after Koschei the Deathless?"

"What?" Ajay exclaimed. "Let me see that!" He grabbed the map, scanning it. "Girl, are you out of your mind?" he called after Mei. "He has _deathless _in his name. We can't fight him!"

Colette's eyes bounced between the others. "Um, I've never heard of him before. Is he… famous?"

Matt tried for a smile. "You could say that."

"I didn't even think he was real!" Ajay said. "Look, you ever heard of Voldemort? Koschei the Deathless is kind of like that. Minus the racism."

"I read stories about him," Matt said, recalling that one book of legends Mary had in her library. "He supposedly made sure that he can't be killed, and he's a powerful sorcerer. Since he's apparently based on a real person…" He threw a look at Mei, but she hadn't even slowed. "Do we have a plan?"

Mei threw him a quick look over her shoulder. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"And if the bridge collapses and we all die horribly?" Ajay asked.

"Go back if you're scared, Silver Spoon," Mei snapped. "I can do this myself."

"No," Colette said firmly, and Matt's jaw almost dropped again as she reached for Mei's hand. "We're coming with you. And we'll get Juliet back, we just have to put our heads together."

To his further surprise, Mei gave the other girl a wan smile. Matt exchanged a look of utter bewilderment with Ajay.

"Just how long did we spend in that dungeon?" Ajay muttered.

Matt's look of shock softened somewhat. "I guess Mei _is _kind of like Percy. Leave her alone with someone for five minutes and they'll come out friends."

Ajay huffed a laugh. "Does that mean we're next?"

Matt watched the two girls walk, and he thought about Percy, Mei and wrong impressions. "We just might be."


	10. Eye of the Tiger

.

* * *

**CHAPTER 10: Eye of the Tiger**

* * *

The longer they walked through the Wastes, the more Colette thought the name was entirely justifiable. There was nothing on the horizon but miles and miles of red, cracked soil, with the occasional rock formations sticking up from the ground. On the left she could spot a beach in the distance, where lava lapped at black sands. It was tricky, the lava, but it was essentially molten earth, and Colette could pick out the objects swirling beneath its waves — pocket watches, pictures, raggedy stuffed animals, jewellery, all sorts of mementos. Even weapons, most of them broken or bent, floated within what should have been melting heat, a few washing up on the beach.

Suddenly something up ahead drew her attention away, and she squeezed Mei's hand.

"We're close?" Mei said. Colette gave her a nod. After a quick look around, Mei gestured to the whole group and everyone gathered in the shadow of one of the bigger rocks. She took out the hourglass and set it between them. "We still have time. What do you see?"

"Um..." Colette reached out with her sense. "It's a fortress. Wyvern guards at the front gates."

"Moat?" Ajay said hopefully. Colette shook her head.

"Forget about the outside," Matt jumped in. "Can you see inside? Do you know where the dragon teeth are?"

Colette concentrated. Her sense slid in through the bottom of the fortress, spanning upwards to encompass the staircases, the lavish rooms and the stone gargoyles outside. She didn't dwell on empty dungeons, kitchens and bedrooms, but paused on the fourth floor behind a heavy locked door. Peripherally, she registered an open window up on the seventh.

"The bag is inside a crystal case on the fourth floor. The door is locked, but there's an entrance point three floors above it." Colette pulled her attention back to her body, eyes darting to each of the others.

Mei crossed her arms, frowning in thought. "Seventh floor. We'd never make it."

Colette's gaze fell to her lap. "Um, a—actually…" she muttered, so quietly she completely expected them to carry on and talk over her. When no one said anything else, she lifted her eyes to see the others stare at her expectantly.

"Speak up," Mei said, and for the very first time she uttered that phrase calmly. "You got a plan?"

Heat rose up to Colette's cheeks. "Ajay can make ice platforms." Her voice was still quiet, but the others seemed to hear her anyway.

Mei turned to Ajay. "Can you?"

Ajay scratched the back of his head. "I mean, yeah, technically. Seven floors though…"

"So you can do it?"

Ajay sighed. "If I had to."

"You do." Mei's face turned thoughtful again. "If you lift Colette up… she can feel her way to the teeth and get out the same way."

"Now hold up." Ajay crossed his arms too, his posture suddenly confrontational. "I _know _you're not suggesting that we send Colette in there by herself."

Mei's eyes locked with his, and Colette tensed, expecting a fight. Neither of them was known for their sweet temper, and Juliet wasn't here to de-escalate budding conflicts.

But, to her surprise, Mei said, "You're right. We'll send in Parker."

Next to her, Matt jumped. "Me?"

Ajay's expression softened, and he huffed a laugh. "You _are _the criminal here."

Matt sat up straighter, looking indignant. "I'll have you know that I have never in my life committed burglary! The occasional garden ornament or flower, maybe, but never broken into a _house_!"

"You're in luck then, because this is a castle," Mei said, completely unsympathetic. "You know how to pick locks?"

"Yes, but that's beside the point!"

"Then it's settled." She handed Colette a sharp bit of rock. "Draw up the shortest route."

Colette nodded, dragging the rock along the dirt to form an approximation of the rooms and hallways up in the fortress.

"Wait, what are these rectangles?" Matt pointed at her sketch.

"Oh, um, that's the crystal case? And those are the rest of the furniture. It's just… bird's eye perspective, from the top." Colette felt herself flushing again. "I'm sorry, I'm just used to sketching rooms like this..."

He smiled at her. "You sketch rooms?"

"Er, it's for, um, this architecture class I'm taking..."

Ajay cleared his throat loudly, tapping on the hourglass. "Time limit here? Wanna hurry it up?"

"No need." Matt winked at him. "Got it memorised." He reached over to Mei and plucked one of the safety pins holding the chain loops at her jeans. "For a lockpick," he said when she shot him a glare.

The teens gathered themselves up, and ten minutes later reached the cliff hiding Koschei's fortress from their view. It was big, black and imposing, though not as much as Lucitor Castle, and Colette couldn't help but think that she might have gone for a more dark grey to set the building apart a little more. Though she did like the gothic cornices, and the gargoyles were neat.

Luckily the building was facing to their left, so the Wyverns pacing at the front gates—kept there by heavy metal collars—didn't notice them descend the low cliffside and approach. Mei led the way, keeping one hand to the black castle wall as they walked. Then suddenly she stopped, and Colette almost bumped into her.

"Mei?" Colette whispered. The other girl neither turned not indicated in any way that she'd heard her. Hesitantly, Colette peeked around, and found her staring unseeingly straight ahead, eyes unfocused. "Mei?" Colette circled Mei and shook her shoulders, but she remained unresponsive. "Mei? Mei, say something!" She waved her hand before Mei's face, worry seeping into her heart as the guys also came around. "Mei! What's happening to her?"

* * *

-O-

Mei struggled against the purple mist overtaking her vision but, as always, it was futile. The premonitions took her when they pleased, and she could do nothing but follow.

She found herself in a large but cluttered room, with barely enough space to navigate the narrow pathways between the towering heaps of everything imaginable. Heavy wooden chests smelling of salty air and overflowing with coins, shiny swords, vases of all shapes and sizes, bottles with all sorts of colourful contents, ornate clocks and even a big brass telescope were left haphazardly wherever there was space enough to fit them, even though the green carpet under them was thick with dust. The only thing moving was the hunched figure of Matt Parker, sneaking soundlessly between the piles of treasure. Mei watched him pause next to a particularly full table, his eyes sliding critically over a basket full of golden apples, past a very out of place, ordinary-looking flint, a fancy red hat with a plume and an intricate silver comb, to finally fix on a heavy, gold-wrought lantern. Inside it was a single, long feather the colour of a steady flame, which emitted a warm glow. Matt paused, gently popping the lid open, and Mei had to stop herself from yelling at him not to touch anything. Snatching a near-by cloth, Matt carefully wrapped the feather, dulling its light, and stuffed it inside his jacket.

That was when Mei noticed that he already held a bag in his hand and almost screamed. They were on a time limit, and he stopped to look for things to steal?! _Not committed burglary my ass! _

Just when she vowed to smack him for this, the heavy door swung open. Mei turned, and the bag went right through her chest as Matt tossed it out the open window.

Wind howled and coins rolled as Koschei the Deathless entered his treasury, his eyes sparkling like lightning. He looked pretty close to what she'd heard — frail, ancient, bald, but emanating power all the same. His wispy white beard swirled in the gale as he raised his hand and spoke, in a voice booming with magic, "Who dares?"

Mei whipped around to Matt, panic rising in her throat, but he simply caught the rolled up purple carpet that leaned precariously in the wind and propped it against the wall. "Finally," he said in a heavy Russian accent, casual as if Koschei had brought him his late McMuffin. "This is the third fortress I've been to. Just how many of these do you have?"

"Speak!" The wind intensified and lightning danced across the wizard's fingertips. "How did you enter my castle?"

"Oh, that?" Matt gestured down to his worn sneakers. "Magic shoes. I tell them where I want to go, and they take me. What, did you think I waltzed past the Wyverns up front?"

Koschei's eyes narrowed. "Who are you, boy?"

Matt gave him a sour smile. "Of course you don't recognise me. I'm your son."

Even Mei's poker face would have wavered at that bomb if she'd really been in the room.

Something flickered over Koschei's features, before he frowned and said, "I have no son."

"My mother didn't exactly advertise it," Matt said, crossing his arms and looking away. "Mariya Morevna. If you even remember her name."

Slowly, Koschei lowered his hand. "Absurd," he said, his voice low and gravelly, no longer booming with power. "She is long dead."

"She is," Matt agreed. His eyes met the wizard's. "I take after you." The wind died down completely. Matt sighed, uncrossing his arms. "Look. I wouldn't have come here if I could help it. I… I've been cursed." He raised his arm towards the rolled up carpet, face screwed up in concentration. After a moment where nothing happened, he growled in helplessness and lowered it. "I can't even move a damn carpet. My magic—all of it—is gone, sealed away by an arrogant prince. I was hoping… you could help me get it back."

Kochei circled him, throwing an idle look out the window. "A son of Mariya… and why would I help you, even if you speak the truth?"

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Because I know where your mortality is." Koschei froze, and Matt laughed cruelly. "How did you think I'm still alive, Dad? I replicated your spell, and my life isn't in my body, either. I asked for your help civilly. Don't make me turn it into a threat."

Kochei's eyes narrowed to slits, but he didn't move to attack.

The vision went dark, and Mei was propelled back into her own body. Her heavy eyelids fluttered up, only to be faced with Colette's worried green eyes.

A hand squeezed her shoulder. "You alright?" Matt said.

Mei forced herself not to look at him. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine," Ajay countered. "You just froze up on us. Did you—"

"I said I'm fine." Mei slapped Matt's hand away. "Keep moving. We can't afford to waste more time."

She walked forward, this time keeping her hands off the wall. Once they were under the entry point, Mei watched Ajay make the ice platform and lift Matt—with lots of grunting—up to the window, where he disappeared.

"Lower it," she said when he asked Colette which window Matt would be coming out of. "No point in keeping it up there if it's making you tired."

He listened, thankfully, and Mei waited with bated breath, eyes glued up to the side of the fortress. A few minutes later, Colette's little intake of breath was all the warning she needed, and when the bag of teeth flew out and plummeted towards them, Mei was able to snatch it out of the air and pull the two nerds close to the wall.

"What are—" Ajay tried to object, but she shushed him.

"Tell us when he comes away from the window," she whispered to Colette, who nodded, though her whole body was shivering again. _This girl is so not used to high-stress situations_, Mei thought. Her free hand squeezed Colette's fingers.

Ajay, seeing the silent understanding that passed between the girls, didn't object when they pulled him along the wall once the coast was clear. Mei waited until they were safely outside of earshot before pulling the others behind another big rock.

"Will one of you explain why we keep leaving people behind?" Ajay hissed, incensed.

Mei shot him a glare. "You want to take on Koschei the Deathless?"

Surprise ran across his face. "He got caught?"

Colette nodded. "But he's okay! I think..." Her eyes grew unfocused. "They're at a table… eating. Matt is tracing something with his fork… A…M…O…K…G…O."

Mei crossed her arms, frowning. "Am okay. Go." She knew it was pointless to go back. Even if she had Clara and Juliet there—the other competent fighters of their group—they still wouldn't be able to defeat a powerful wizard like Koschei. The only thing that could save Parker's ass was his silver tongue and his ability to spot an opening and bolt. And there was the problem of the hourglass… "Colette, how much of the sand do we have?"

The princess reached into her skirt pocket. "A little over half..."

Mei steeled herself. "Then we're leaving." She stood, holding up a hand to Ajay when he opened his mouth to protest. "Parker will catch up. We need to get these dragon teeth back to Pandemonium before that sand runs out."

Ajay still looked like he wanted to object, but Colette put a hand on his shoulder. "Matt can get out of it. He's a rogue, right? They get buffs to charisma."

He looked at her for a second, then his face softened and he huffed a laugh, helping her up. "How were we not friends before this?" Colette smiled back.

Mei picked up the hourglass, rolling her eyes. "Move it, nerds. We still have a long way to go."

* * *

-O-

Despite what she'd told Ajay, Colette was a little worried. At the same time, since force wasn't an option, if anyone had a chance against this proto-Voldemort, she knew it would be Matt. Though she didn't know a lot about him, Percy had mentioned offhand that Matt 'functions best under pressure'. This was a little odd, as Percy wasn't exactly a closed book to her and he liked talking about his friends, but Matt… he'd always been a little tight-lipped about him.

Up front, Mei walked a couple steps ahead, the hourglass clasped in one hand, the bag of teeth in the other. It was really starting to dawn on Colette how much was hidden under that rough surface. Percy might have been reluctant to talk about Matt, but he'd never even _mentioned _Mei, and that more than anything should have raised a flag.

The further away from the fortress they got, the harder it was to keep tabs on Matt, until Colette had to stop looking back with her sense or risk walking into rocks. Ajay proved to be a nice distraction, trying to explain to her the premise of an old sci-fi show she'd never heard of, but it sounded interesting and pretty funny. Colette wasn't that much into space stuff, but, as Ajay countered passionately, a space western was a unique breed.

"So then," Ajay said as they walked, "the captain says, 'Mercy is the mark of a great man'. And he stabs the guy and says, 'I guess I'm just a good man'. Stabs him again. 'Well, I'm alright'."

Colette laughed. "That does sound like a good show. I'll remember to look it up when we get back."

"I'll send you the DVD box set," Ajay said. "Your castle is the Versailles, right? Pretty sure if I address it to you and send it there it will find you."

"Um, yeah. Or you could… visit? If you want? A lot of boys try to sneak in, but I'll tell my guards to add you to the exceptions. Do you mind if I give them a picture of you?"

Ajay laughed. "If it'll stop me being stabbed, sure! Is that the Rose Guard? I've heard crazy rumours at the academy. They didn't actually hang some guy upside down from the garden wall, did they?"

Colette felt a rush of embarrassment at the memory. "Of course not! He somehow got himself tangled up in the climbing roses; it took hours for the guards to even find him. I didn't notice at first when I was walking by, and suddenly there were… male parts inches from my face. I've never screamed so loudly."

Ajay guffawed again, when suddenly Mei stopped and raised her hand. "Quiet."

They froze, listening intently. Colette reached out with her sense, but there was no one following them, nothing for miles around but rocks. Then suddenly, she heard it. The flapping of wings.

The teens looked up to the sky and spotted a fast-approaching black carriage, pulled by two alicorns.

Mei cursed, her hand gripping the dragon teeth bag. She looked around, but Colette already knew there was nowhere to hide, and the carriage was close enough to have spotted them already.

"I think we're at the bridge," Ajay said, "and it's feeling distinctly wobbly!"

Mei twisted the end of the bag, as if preparing to wield it like a mace. "If either of you has any great plans, now would be the time."

Colette and Ajay exchanged a look. Before she could even open her mouth the carriage descended upon them, and they had to bolt to avoid getting flattened. It landed surprisingly softly behind the alicorns; then the door flew open and out stepped an old, bald wizard. Colette barely had the time to notice that his long white beard was tucked into his belt, when he raised a gnarled staff with a pulsing grey jewel at its top. Thunder crackled in the red sky. The wind picked up, whipping her hair and skirt violently. Another, more powerful crack echoed above, and when Colette looked up, she saw in a bolt of lightning surging down towards them.

The next second was the longest of her life. She blinked, frozen, watching as the light grew nearer. Then someone moved, water swirled around them, and a thick, white-grey dome closed over her head. The lightning struck, causing the ice to fracture, the branch-like cracks extending and growing, until more water licked their edges, smoothing them. Next to her, Ajay was panting as if he'd ran a marathon, his arms raised up, glasses askew. It took a few moments for active thought to break through her shock, just as another bolt shook the ice dome. Ajay grunted, swaying on his feet.

Mei looked up in awe. "How are you doing this?"

"Reflex," Ajay muttered, his voice strained. "It's the move I use when I see a flock of mosquitoes coming at me at the bayou. I've never tried to hold together anything this thick. Or big. Or against—"

A third strike, and more fissures crawled across the surface. Ajay, visibly sweating, called up more water.

From outside, the muted voice of the sorcerer shrieked, "You think your measly defence can keep you safe against _me_?"

Something flashed, and when the next lightning bolt hit, it was so powerful it brought Ajay to his knees. Unlike the others, this attack didn't let up — more and more fissures appeared on the icy surface, reaching all the way down to the ground, and soon it was apparent that the only thing holding the dome together was Ajay's sheer will power.

He managed to push himself back to his feet, but his whole body was shaking with the strain. "I don't think… I can hold it… much longer."

Colette was suddenly struck with a strong sense of _déjà vu_ and said in her best imitation of Juliet, "Do you want buns of steel or not? Keep going." She walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "You have to beat your record, right? Come on, it's like a high score. One, two, three, four…"

Mei came closer too. "Five, six, seven eight..." She put her hand on his other shoulder, exchanging a look with Colette.

Ajay squeezed his eyes shut as the girls kept counting, sweat dripping down his nose. Miraculously, the dome kept itself together.

* * *

-O-

"Finally," Matt muttered as the lock clicked. What kind of paranoid weirdo locked his damn carriage anyway? Maybe he hadn't been entirely convinced by the estranged son con, or—the non-ego-bruising explanation Matt preferred—maybe he'd been too convincing, and the old goat saw him as a threat. The wheels of his brain always worked best when greased by the adrenaline of danger, and he was rather proud of himself for pulling off something this insane on the fly. Seeing how this little chase turned out, he might have just been lucky Koschei had bothered to ask questions at all. Matt damn near had a heart attack when he called down that first lightning.

With the wizard's attention on the ice dome, which was somehow still standing, and the carriage unlocked, Matt slipped out the door and inched towards the rear of the closest alicorn. He cursed in his head, fingering the safety pin he'd snatched from Mei. He didn't need a crystal ball to know what was going to happen in a second — the bloody mule was going to kick him. Lightning crackled on his left, breaking the ice further, and he cursed _again_, because he had to quit stalling. Raising the open pin, he stabbed at the horse's flank. The animal neighed, and though Matt tried to duck, it still nailed him right in the chest.

His back ground against sharp stones as he hit the dirt. His lungs ached for the air that had been kicked out of him and his head spun like a record, but he still held the pin.

Koschei turned. The lightning weakened, then fizzled out as his eyes fixed on Matt, narrowing to slits. Behind him, the dome fell apart and Ajay collapsed into Colette's arms as Mei bent over them, ice raining on her back.

Despite his ringing head, Matt pulled out his purse and stabbed the blood-stained pin in the ashes.

* * *

**~oOo~**

Somewhere close yet far away, Clara's consciousness drifted in darkness, not asleep and at the same time not awake, but dreaming…

* * *

"Seven years vill pass before you even know it," said Strahd, fixing the frills at her neck. "Just be good and listen to zer teachers. And if at any time you vant to go home—"

Clara laughed. "Dad, I vill be fine."

Their carriage, which in classic gothic fashion was at least a few centuries out of style, blended in perfectly with all the other ones parked before the ancient castle. The sky above was red, with no sun to hide from and no humans around to make up excuses to.

Strahd continued to straighten the collar, though she was pretty sure it was already fixed. "You know, you don't have to attend—"

"It vas you zhat put my name forward for zhis academy!" Clara countered playfully. "Vill you stop vorrying? I am qvite sure I can survive."

Strahd smiled, and his hands came away. "It is a very great honour to study with the Solomonari. Only childe of the alumni are ever allowed to step foot vithin zhis castle and share in zer secret knowledge of blood magic. I have just… never before put forward a spawn of mine. Your, er, grandmother vas not vhat you vud call available vhile I studied, but I vant you to contact me should you have any—"

Clara laughed again, giving him a hug. "I know you are immortal, Dad, but if you keep goink like zhat you vill get wrinkles. I am a vampire, vhat could zhis school of magic have zhat I cannot handle?"

"Other vampires," Strahd said flatly, but his arms did close around her all the same. "Vell," he added once she pulled away, "if you are qvite sure you vant to attend, I have… a small gift for you." He gestured with his hand, and a wolf appeared out of the mist, carrying a covered cage between its teeth. "Zhank you, Reginald." Strahd took the cage and held it up to her. "Seven years is not a lot of time for a vampire, but still, I have… grown accustomed to your company." He pulled off the cloth to reveal a tiny baby bat, hanging upside down on a little stand.

Clara squealed with delight. "My very own bat? Oh Dad, you shouldn't have!" She picked up the cage and stuck her finger between the bars to pet the little flying puppy. "I shall name you Pilot!"

Strahd raised an eyebrow. "Bats are not known for navigatink the sea."

Clara chuckled. "Oh no, not zhat kind! After Jane Eyre's dog."

Strahd scowled. "You have been readink modern fiction again."

"Oh, to you everythink past the printink press is modern fiction," Clara said dismissively, still fawning over her new pet.

"In my day vords vere written," Strahd grumbled. "Zhat is how you know it is literature vorth readink — somevun slaved for days over zer parchment to write it down. Nowadays it is all about zer qvick printink, children read through books and zhen discard zhem, anyvun vit enough money can publish any kind of trash zhey vant, and furthermore—"

Clara interrupted his usual rant with another hug. "I love my new bat. Zhank you."

"You are very velcome," Strahd said kindly. "Now zhat you don't have to use zer school bats, I shall expect a letter vunce a veek."

"And I shall expect one back."

Another pair of vampires walked past them and up the steps of the school, giving them a sideways glance.

Strahd gently pulled away. "You should go; your peers are already inside. Write to me by veek's end, and tell me vitch of the masters selected you as an apprentice."

"Ha!" Clara said, hands at her waist. "So you can in turn write them a threatenink letter? I think not."

"Clara—"

"I can handle myself, Dad. Really, I can."

Strahd sighed. "Vell, as you vish. You are much too headstrong to listen to me anyvay."

* * *

**o**

* * *

His smile faded, the image smudging and swirling in the sea of memories. The courtyard shifted, the wide open space turning into a locked room…

* * *

**o**

* * *

Candles flickered at each point of the hexagram. Clara sat cross-legged before it, chanting from The Book of Changes still open at her feet. Red light streamed in through the large window.

"_Wújí shēng you jí, you jí shì tàijí. Tàijí shēng liangyí, jí yīnyáng; Liangyí shēng sìxiàng: jí shao yīn, tàiyīn_—"

The door slammed open, and a tall, muscular silhouette loomed in the dark frame.

Clara jumped to her feet, taking a step back under the fierce glare of her teacher. "Sh-Shifu Pai-Long..."

He stepped in, closing the door behind him. "What do you think you're doing, Clara?"

"I—I… I vas about to do some late-night readink… maybe summon a few divine beasts?" She tried for a winning smile, but Pai-Long was not having it.

"I told you this was enough. You already summoned the Vermilion Bird; it's dangerous to have so many blood contracts. You grow more reckless each passing day."

"My father sent me here to study, and zhat is vhat I have been doink!" Clara snapped. "You chose me as your disciple at the acceptance ceremony, you chose me to master blood summonink, and yet you hold me back at each step!"

"Clara, studying with the Solomonari isn't a game for a rich young girl to play," he said, crossing his arms. "Blood magic is dangerous. Not just for your enemies, but for yourself. You have been a vampire for barely a decade; you don't know where your limits are yet. No one has done more than two contracts — they drain you, make you unworthy in the beasts' eyes—"

"Zhat is preposterous! Surely if you have control over more creatures, zer others vud recognise it as a sign of strength!"

"You are playing with powers you do not understand! Step away from the seal!"

But she didn't.

The seal glowed with white light, illuminating every corner. It grew so bright she had to shield her eyes, and when it died down the room filled with a guttural, feral growl.

Clara straightened up, determined not to show weakness. She brought her hands together, fist over an open palm, and bowed respectfully to the huge white tiger standing inside the hexagram. "Oh great Báihu, most honourable one, Guardian of the West and harbinger of autumn. I stand before you as—"

"**Is that the mark of Zhūquè on your palm, girl?**"

Clara froze. Sloppy, so sloppy! She should have worn gloves. "I—"

"**You would disgrace me as your second summon?**" The spirit didn't speak, exactly, but its voice echoed almost painfully through every molecule of her being. "**Do you know, girl, how few I grace with my presence? I choose only the most powerful to share my strength**."

"Then, Great One," Clara ventured, "vud you not align yourself vit one who has already von zer—"

"**_WON?_**" The one word alone almost split her skull in two. "**You believe you have _won _that mark, do you, girl? That you have tamed a Divine Beast and bent it to your will? You believe yourself more powerful than a god?**"

Despite her earlier bravado, Clara found herself shivering, almost crushed by the pressure of the spirit's voice alone.

"Oh most powerful and great Báihu," said Pai-Long, bowing next to her. "Forgive the reckless child that has summoned you. As her teacher, I accept full responsibility for her actions."

The White Tiger growled. "**The student is but a reflection of her teacher. If she is reckless, it is you that has allowed her to be so. You have either taught her this or have failed to teach her otherwise, and the only conclusion that can be drawn is that you are a pathetic—**"

The spirit fell silent. Suddenly a paw lashed out, pinning Clara to the ground. She froze completely, staring at the icy blue eyes of the tiger as its deafening growl almost shattered her eardrums.

"**You stink of wood, girl.**" Its sharp metal claws sank painfully into her shoulder. "**You have summoned Qīnglóng.**" Her breath hitched. "**You dared summon _ME _as a _THIRD CONTRACT_?**"

Something black lashed out at her side, sending the beast hurtling into the wall. Drawing shaky breaths, Clara was pulled up by a pair of strong arms that shoved back. Wobbling on trembling legs, she saw Pai-Long take an offensive stance, a big black turtle clinging to his arm like a shield.

The White Tiger rose to its feet, eyes blazing with fury, and roared.

"Xuánwu, hide her," said Pai-Long without looking back.

"**This isn't wise, Lee**," the turtle replied.

"Do it!" The turtle slid away from his arm, growing in size. Clara saw Pai-Long prick his finger on a fang and draw a line of blood across his palm. "Qīnglóng, Guardian of the East, I summon thee! Aid me in my hour of need!"

The last thing Clara saw was the long, scaly body of the Azure Dragon as it manifested around Pai-Long, answering his call. Then the turtle came at her and sucked her within its shell.

Clara found herself kneeling in darkness. Muffled sounds of battle came from the outside, but she couldn't make out enough. Then everything shook as claws screeched horrifyingly against the turtle's shell, and Clara screamed. More blows followed; the shell shook violently like a boat during a storm, but all Clara could do was curl up and cover her ears, begging for it to stop.

She didn't know how long she spent cowering inside the shell, but it felt like centuries. Worse still was when the blows stopped and she laid there in the darkness, counting her breaths and dreading each second of uncertainty.

Then a grunt came from somewhere within the inky black, and Clara jumped so hard her foot connected with something. She screamed again.

"Oof, Clara… I don't need to add pierced ear drums to my injuries."

"Shifu Pai-Long!"

She crawled blindly in the direction of his voice. A human's eyes would have seen nothing inside the turtle's shell, but her vampire vision was able to make out curves in the darkness, distinguish things through scent and sound. Her teacher lay wounded on his back, multiple cuts along his body reeking of blood.

Clara propped his head in her lap. "Vhat happened? Did you defeat it?"

He let out a raspy chuckle. "I sealed the room. The spirit is contained, for now. The teachers…" Another grunt as he caughed up blood. "I couldn't send out a warning. They won't know until…"

Clara wiped the blood from his chin. "Until vhat? How long vill the seal hold?" There was no response. "Shifu Pai-Long?" Clara shook him, and his head fell to the side.

Sagging, she hugged his neck. His body, still comfortingly corporeal, didn't need to breathe, but his chest rose and fell nonetheless. Her head fell back as she stared unseeingly into the darkness. Mentally, she was flipping through the Book of Changes. A Divine Beast, once summoned, is tied to the blood of the summoner; only they can send it back to the Ethereal Plane. But Báihu wouldn't listen to her, and she didn't have enough power to force him to obey. She needed… more.

"Oh great Xuánwu," she started softly. "Most wise one, Guardian of the North and harbinger of winter. I stand before—"

"**You don't need to complete the incantation, Clara**." The Black Turtle's head emerged from the darkness. "**I am here.**"

The gentle reassurance in the spirit's voice made Clara want to break down and cry. Instead she clenched her fists to stop them from shaking and said, "I have made a mistake, oh Great One. I have summoned the White Tiger, and now he rampages in zer school. Vhatever seal my teacher has placed, it cannot hold a Divine Beast forever. I know I can stop him, but I need—"

"**You know?**" the turtle interrupted.

Clara's head drooped. "I zhink. I zhink zhere is a vay to stop him, and I zhink zhat I can do it. Zer only relic that vud make me powerful enough vud be a spirit chain. Your abilities here are limited, and Pai-Long cannot supply you vit zer energy needed to transport me—"

"**A spirit chain. You believe yourself capable of forging one**?"

Clara swallowed hard. "Yes."

"**You understand what that entails?**"

"... Yes."

The turtle was quiet for a moment. "**Each of the Divine Beasts looks for something in a summoner, Clara. The Azure Dragon looks for justice. The Vermilion Bird looks for compassion. The White Tiger looks for strength. And I look for wisdom**." Clara's eyes remained fixed at her lap. "**You acted very rashly today. You crossed a line, even when your teacher told you to exercise caution. You were reckless and hungry for power, and your solution is to obtain more power. That is not wisdom.**" It was going to be a no. A very wordy no, but still a no, and Clara felt despair clawing at her chest. "**And yet, you admit the error of your ways. You have been humbled, and you demonstrated that you are willing to correct yourself and to listen. There is wisdom in failure.**"

Clara looked up, almost too amazed to believe her ears, and saw a bulky ancient scroll unfurl before her.

"**I will enter a blood contract with you, Clara von Leichenberg.**" The turtle threw a look down at Pai-Long. "**Your plan is bold; not many of your kind venture into soul forging.** **Lee Pai-Long has always struggled with his monsterhood. But in you I see the wisdom in embracing it. Write your name on the sacred scroll and burn my mark upon your skin, and I shall aid you in all your endeavours.**"

With shaking hands, Clara pricked her finger and wrote down her name.

* * *

**o**

* * *

The dream shifted. One moment she was running down a dimly-lit street, the next she held a shining iridescent chain in a blood-stained hand. Though not entirely conscious, her mind jerked away from those memories.

More images flashed in quick succession: Nachtnebel Castle in the daylight, Strahd's closet full of capes for every occasion, the beige couch in her very first apartment. Then everything faded away, replaced by damp, stale air and darkness.

* * *

**o**

* * *

With the heavy grinding sound of metal against stone, the manhole cover slid into place above her, drowning out all light. For a moment a rush of panic made her wobble on the iron ladder, but a voice above her said, "Keep going. I'll get the light."

Swallowing hard, she forced her aching limbs to continue the descent, and soon enough the light of a phone torch shone from above. It gave her courage, and she reached the bottom, swaying a little once the ladder was out of reach.

"Whoa there." A pair of warm hands steadied her. "I got you."

The burns would heal, Clara knew, but each step was agony as her companion led her to a nice bit of wall and sat her down. In her ears rushing water, droplets falling on stone and the pitter-patter of tiny feet mixed together in a cacophony of sounds.

In front of her, Percy was rummaging inside her purse, which he'd grabbed when they started running. "Here," he said, fishing out a six pack of plasma fruits. "Maybe it'll help." Leaving it in her lap, he dove into the purse again. "Jesus, Clara, how many straws do you have?"

She didn't respond. She didn't even reach for the fruit. Everything ached.

Percy found the neon green straw—her newest addition—and stuck it in one of the fruits. Then he cradled it in both her palms. "Drink, Clara. Come on."

As soon as the first sip of warm plasma cascaded down her throat, the pain began to dull. Her breath came through more easily, the smarting of the fissures on her skin lessened.

Percy sat with his back to the wall next to her, pulling up his phone. She leaned on his shoulder, sucking on the straw, and peered at the screen. "Okay," he said, "good news is that I have plenty of battery. Bad news is that we don't have signal." He looked up. "I could go up and—"

Her nails dug into his arm. "And leave me alone down here?" Hard as she tried, there was no hiding the notes of fear in her voice. The thought of being alone in the dark again terrified her.

Percy looked down at her for a moment. Then his arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her closer. "No," he said. "Not leaving you." His thumb moved in a comforting caress up and down her arm. "We'll just… weather it. I mean, it's..." He glanced at the phone. "Quarter past ten. That means the sun will set again in about nine hours. Uh, or ten. Better safe than sorry." He turned it around a few times in his hand. "We can do that."

Clara snuggled into his side, too overwhelmed for words. She had no right to ask this of him.; it was selfish and horrible, but what made it worse was that he didn't even object.

"I'll just set an alarm for 8pm," he said, bringing up the app. "It'll tell us when it's safe to come out. Aaaaand done." He grinned at her. "Now I'll put that in my pocket and—"

She grabbed his arm again. "Turn off zer light? You can't turn off zer light."

"Clara, I don't want to, but the battery won't last. If we lose the alarm, we won't know when it's safe for you outside." He looked at her then, and she knew he'd figured it out. After a moment of silence, he said, "I can leave it on the lowest brightness setting. It won't last the whole day, but it'll keep us going for a while. Why don't you try to get some sleep? I'll turn it off when you drift off and back on when you wake up."

She nodded, resting her head on his shoulder again. His embrace tightened just a little, and Clara relaxed somewhat, sinking into it. "Vell, zhat vill be a first. I've been a vampire for a long time, but I can safely say I have never fallen asleep in a sewer before," she said, attempting to make light of it. If Strahd knew about this, he would lecture her about how nothing good happens after sunrise.

"You want me to tell you a story to help you sleep?" he offered.

Clara huffed a laugh. "No vun has told me a bedtime in two centuries."

His chest reverberated with a chuckle. "You're overdue then! I have just the one. This is the story of Mina and the Count…"

The thought of spending hours down in that musty sewer, full of foul, stale air and the unnerving rat squeaks was the most horrid way Clara could imagine spending her day, but once Percy started telling his stories, all of it almost melted away. She could just lean into him and listen to his pleasant timbre, the sound of it alone lulling her to sleep. The story was a wholesome one, of a vampire count named Vlad mistakenly coming into the room of 7 year old Mina Harper instead of 17 year old Mina Harker, and the two becoming best friends and having all sorts of adventures. She didn't know if that was a real story or if he was making it up as he went along, but listening to it, chuckling at the funnier moments and sipping on the warm plasma in her hands made her almost forget where they were.

After the fourth anecdote, his throat started getting sore and he had to take a break.

"You getting sleepy yet?" he whispered. She threw a glance at the phone. Battery was at 60%. "It's okay. I won't turn it off until you're asleep."

"I am driftink off," she whispered back. "Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm… zhis is a tad embarrassing, but I'm… afraid of zer dark."

"Yeah. I kinda figured."

"I know vhat you're thinkink," she plowed on, "I am a creature of zer night, and I must not cower before shadows and flights of fancy."

"I wasn't thinking that. I was thinking about the time Dawn and Briar scared the daylights out of me when I was six. Hid under the bed and pretended to be monsters." His hand went up and down her arm again. "It's okay to be afraid of things. Even if you are a creature of the night."

Clara buried her face in his shoulder. Why was he being so nice? He barely knew her. "Aren't you afraid? Of beink alone in zer dark vit a real monster?"

"What, you mean the Rodents of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist." He chuckled at his own stupid joke, then leaned his cheek atop her head. "You're not a monster, Clara."

She hugged him tighter. He said that, but he hadn't seen her really _be _a monster. He didn't know what she had done, what she was capable of. So trusting, that boy… and she hated how his pulse made her mouth water.

* * *

**o**

* * *

As swiftly as it came, the dream changed again. Light replaced darkness, a spring breeze blew away the stale air…

* * *

**o**

* * *

Clara did her best to take deep, steady breaths. It wasn't easy when you were on the verge of panic. Her head dropped in her hands, fingers burying into golden tresses as she tried to keep herself from shaking. If the reality of who she was came out, a single tweet could destroy everything she'd worked so hard to accomplish.

All that she'd built, the audience she'd gathered, her voice being heard, it was all because one boy in a dark sewer had decided that she wasn't a monster. He'd trusted her without reason, followed her on social media and gave her the megaphone she needed to spread her message. And thanks to that, people started listening. People like Luna, who now believed that there was nothing to fear, and because of that vote of confidence, Clara gained a friend unlike any she'd had before. Someone who defended her to the bitter end in all kinds of real life and online feuds, someone who shared her ideals and wanted to fight for a better, more inclusive future at her side.

Percy and Luna had changed her unlife, whether they knew that or not. If they saw her, really saw her out here, they would know how wrong they'd been. And they would hate her.

Grass rustled as someone approached. The scent of leather and magnolias told her who it was, and Clara snarled. Trying to control her temper, she waited, but the other girl just sat next to her without saying anything.

"Have you ever thought that there might be other ways to hide your nature out here?"

Clara froze. She turned to look at Mei, whose eyes were staring unseeingly at the edge of the woods. "Vhat can you know about how I feel?" she snapped.

For a long moment, Mei said nothing. Then her hand rose up, touching the barbed wire around her neck. "I know more about it than you think."

Clara bared her fangs. "Please spare me. You zhink zhat because you have figured out I hide my vampiric nature you can now dispense advice? Vy are you even here?"

Mei shot her a glare. "Maybe if instead of showing that nature you heard a thing I said, you'd have figured out why!"

Clara glared back, but the words did register. Mei huffed, turning forward again as the vampire contemplated them. "You… hide as vell?" There was no answer. Clara felt bad, just a little, and her eyes softened. "You touched your necklace vhen you said zhat." Mei's face turned to stone. From this close up, Clara noticed the faded scars on her neck, and it made her frown. "Vy do you even vear a think like zhat? I can see zhat it hurts you."

"That's the point."

Clara straightened up a little, fully facing the other girl. "I… I do not understand."

Mei touched it again, and to Clara's surprise, her shoulders sagged. The hostility on her face was replaced with contemplation. She shot Clara a measured side-glance, as if trying to make up her mind on something. Then she turned forward again, her gaze thoughtful. "My grandfather still rules Ordos, you know. He doesn't have a family the same way you would think of it. He has pawns. Tokens he can use to claim more land, to strengthen his hold in certain courts. My father's name is Shan Nergui. In our language that literally means No Name — that's how little my grandfather cared for the child that would succeed him. All that matters to him is to have the perfectly bred soldier to execute his will. But… Dad turned out to be too soft. Grandfather sent him to assassinate the daughter of Li Mulan, the woman who foiled his plans of taking over China. Well, the long and short of it is that he failed, and Grandfather promptly removed him from the line of succession. And then… I became the soldier."

Her fingers traced the sharp ends of the wire. Clara had a very bad, sinking feeling in her stomach.

"When I was six, my father got me a doll for my birthday. It was a simple thing, all plush. I loved it so much, but I knew Grandfather would never let me keep it. So I hid it under my bed, thinking that I could only bring it out at night. Heh, stupid child logic. It only took an hour for him to find out. My heart almost stopped when he summoned me to the throne room and I saw the doll in his fist. He beckoned me to come closer and put this necklace around my neck himself. A real birthday present, fit for Ordos' future ruler."

She paused here, still fingering the metal bits. If Clara needed to breathe, she'd be holding her breath.

When Mei spoke again, her voice was barely a whisper. "It's a reminder, you see. If I wanted to be different than my dad, if I wanted to not be a failure, I would do well to remember what happens when people get too close. My dad was weak. And he was making _me _weak. And weaknesses… have to be removed."

Clara felt bile rise up her throat. She thought of her own human father and the leash he wanted her on, and she felt angry at that old man on the throne, abusing a child on her birthday.

Mei looked down at her hands, which curled into fists. "I had to prove to my Grandfather that I hadn't let Dad ruin me, that he wasn't a real weakness. I said that I didn't care for his stupid gift, that I'd hidden it so I wouldn't have to look at it. So he called my dad in… and made me say it all again. And then he made me burn the doll right before his eyes."

Clara didn't know what to say. After finally finding a good father in Strahd, she couldn't imagine hurting him on purpose. Her initial turmoil was completely forgotten as she placed a gentle hand on Mei's shoulder. Surprisingly, the other girl didn't shrug it off.

Her eyes met Clara's. "I have to treat my own father like garbage, and still he tries. He tries to do nice things for me all the time, he wants to be there and support me, and I have to tell him to his face that he's nothing to me. You think it's hard, trying to hide you're a monster? Try pretending to be one."

Unable to help herself, Clara drew the girl into a hug, careful not to touch the necklace. Bloody tears streamed down her cheeks, but she didn't even bother to wipe them away.

* * *

**o**

* * *

Once again, the image faded. New memories flashed through her mind for a brief moment, only to be gone the next. A festival full of people. Matt's face scrunched up in disgust as he took a sip from his foul drink. Coins glinting in the light, stacked in perfect towers. The blue sheet of fabric shielding her from the light. A whispered name…

Clara opened her eyes.


End file.
